Homer'sWorld

I bought myself a gray tophat and an old-style black vest for my birthday present. Hey, I old turn 149-years-old once!

When I was in high school the first space shuttle flew into space. When I was a senior at the University of Michigan, the Challenger exploded and I heard of this while standing in the living room of my house.

 I have always liked science fiction. My father hated that, it was one of his many psychological problems (he also hated Tom Selleck, environmentalists, garlic, and at times me).

 At work this morning someone mentioned that the Space Shuttle Endeavor was going to fly over Tucson on its way to a museum in California. It was going to dip low over Tucson in honor of its last pilot, Mark Kelly, and his wife Gabrielle Giffords. So Patti, Sarah, Mario, Lisa, Mike and I walked over to the park across the street from the office and right at 11:15 it appeared in the sky.

Endeavor. 

 It was a bittersweet sight, seeing the last Space Shuttle pass by.


NASA has shown the awesome resolve, engineering and computing skills, and bravery of American men and women. When I was a kid everyone wanted to be an astronaut or a scientist. Now everyone wants to be reality television show stars.

Oh course I made the mistake of reading some of the comments left on our local newspaper afterward. I learned that it was a waste of money, that Obama killed the shuttle program, that Gabriel Giffords is a traitor. I guess there will always be misfits who hate everything.

I hope NASA is figuring out some way to replace the Shuttle program. Space is the ultimate frontier.

I used to watch Jason sing at karoake at IBTS here in Tucson back in 2004-2006.



He's a nice guy and has a beautiful voice. His signature song here was the theme song from The Jeffersons. I hope his dreams come true.

Birthday weekend. Ohmigod, I am 49. I remember wondering what life would be like when I was 13. Handyman Doug is adding shelves to the dining room (which becomes my mother's bedroom in the winter).

Dill pickles. I've never made dill pickles before and I do not know how long they have to sit in the jar before you can eat them. I will have to ask Mark.

Buddy came by for brunch on Saturday morning.

Treasure box.

I have a cigar box where I keep some treasures. The cast of my teeth made back in 1990. A leather wallet Grandpa F made me when I was 7 or 8. A button from my great great grandmother's dress, the pocket watch that belonged to my namesake. And the remnants of a Noah's Ark that I got back in 1967 or 1968.

For the last couple of weeks a male pitbull has been wandering around my neighborhood. The first time I saw him, he growled at me and ran away. I quickly realized the poor guy didn't have a home and that he was hungry. Coincidentally, I have cans of catfood my cats won't eat, so when I saw him, I called him over and opened a can of food and left it out.

Why hello.

I'm calling him Buddy for now. 

I'm always amazed at the bullshit people believe. The other day I saw a car plastered with racist and anti-Semitic bumper stickers targeting Obama. On the way north to Flagstaff I saw the following vehicle.

I was arrested for sodomy.



Make your own!

I avoided watching the Republican convention. From what I have read, repeating lies over and over again is now acceptable to fundamentalists. They parked the Puerto Rican, Samoan, and some other territorial delegates in the very front. The rest of the convention hall was filled with white folks, many of whom were probably terrified by those with different skin tones.

Smaller hawk.

When I go to the mall to but underpants, I notice the people around me. When I drive down 6th Avenue westward and stop first at stoplight at the University of Arizona rec center and then go past Tucson High School I look at the people. The future is right there before my eyes. America is rapidly becoming more and more diverse. All of the voter suppression efforts, locking young people up for having a joint, all of that bullshit isn't going to work. As a white guy, I'll be in the minority soon and I think that is awesome.

The Rollenhagens.

Christian Friedrich Rollenhagen was born in 1832 in the tiny town of Brusewitz, Prussia, second oldest son of Friedrich Wilhelm Rollenhagen and Anna Luise Eggert. The Rollenhagens are known to have lived in the area since at least the 1770s.

Fred, as he was later known, trained as a master tailor. He was married in 1857 to Hanna Frederike Theel, who had been born in Brusewitz in 1833, the daughter of Gottfried Theel and Anna Marohn. Frederika must have gotten pregnant on their wedding night, because 9 months and 9 days later she gave birth to their first child, a daughter named Auguste Emilie. A son, Emil Amandus, was born in September 1860 in the nearby town of Hansfelde.

A photograph from the early 1900s of Brusewitz, Anna Rollenhagen in the foreground.

In 1862, the couple, their two children, Frederika's parents, her brothers Friedrich and Christoph, and her sister Maria traveled to Hamburg and boarded the Sir Robert Peel and spent weeks sailing to the United States in steerage. Why they came to the United States has been forgotten. They would later move to places that were very similar, in terms of climate, geography, and vegetation, to Brusewitz.

Sir Robert Peel.

The Sir Robert Peel was launched in 1852 and sailed primarily between Hamburg and New York City, carrying immigrants. The ship would later sink in November 1863 in the North Sea.

There were 293 passengers aboard the vessel. Six died during the voyage, including the Rollenhagen's 21-month-old son Emil Amandus.





Rollenhagen and Theel families, listed on the 24 June 1862 passenger list for the Sir Robert Peel.

The Rollenhagens and the Theels headed west, settling on Grand Island, Erie County, New York. They lived in a log house, with Frederick working as a farmer. A son Herman was born in August 1864.  A state census was taken in June 1865.
Rollenhagen family in the 1865 New York state census.

In February 1866, my great-great grandmother Anna Maria Dortea was born. I have a hand-painted fraktur that was created using a piece of ordinary lined paper, the blue lines highlighted with gold.


Anna Rollenhagen fraktur.
The family moved to Michigan soon afterwards, they were there by March 1867 when son Otto Frederick was born. The couple's last child, a daughter Edith Augusta Marie, was born in July 1869.

In August 1870, the couple and three children- Amelia, Herman, Anna, Otto, and Mary; Gred's brothers Herman and August, who had come over from Brusewitz, and a servant girl, Augusta Daubach (who would later marry one of the Rollenhagen brothers)- lived in Crockery township, Ottawa County, Michigan. Fred worked as a farm laborer while Fredrica kept house. They owned $300 in real estate and $150 in personal property (tools, furniture, clothing).


The Rollenhagens in the 1870 census.

In June 1880, the couple and their four children- Herman, Anna, Otto, and Edith- lived in Ravenna, Muskegon County, Michigan, where Frederic worked as a farmer and Hannah was keeping house. All four children had attended school in the last year.

The Rollenhagens in the 1880 census.

In June 1900, the couple, their son Otto, his wife Adaline, that couples four children, and a servant woman lived in Ravenna. Fred was still farming, helped out by his son.

Rollenhagen household, 1900 census.

My grandmother had a photograph of Fred and Fredericka. I suspect it was taken sometime between 1890 and 1905. Fred has a full head of hair and a big bushy beard. A watch chain and fob are visible, the pocket watch is tucked into a vest pocket. His jacket is mostly unbuttoned, I'm not sure if this was because he was chubby, or it was to show off the watch chain, or because it was the style. Fredericka has an elaborate lace collar, pinned at the neck, and is holding, apparently, a handkerchief.

Rollenhagen household, 1910 census.

Fredericka died in April 1914 from pneumonia. Her obituary appeared in the A May 1914 issue of the Coopersville (Michigan) Observer:  "OBITUARY. Fredericka Theel, daughter of Gotfried and Anna Theel, was born in Germany, December 12, 1833, and died April 18, 1914.  She was married to Frederick Rollenhagen, February, 12, 1857. Six years later together they left their native land for America, Settling first in New York. After about three years residence in New York they removed to Nunica, Ottawa County, Michigan. Then in 1871 to the home in Ravenna township, Muskegon County, where she lived until her death. She was the mother of six children, Emelie A., Mandus, Herman A., Anna M., Otto F., and Edith A.., three of whom, one buried at sea, together with her husband, have gone before. There remain two daughters, Mrs. Anna Clawson, of Traverse City, and Edith, now Mrs. Hoyt Taylor, of Coopersville, one son Otto F. Rollenhagen who now occupies the old home in Ravenna township, thirty-five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren with many friends and neighbors.
She was an earnest Christian, a loving wife and mother and will be greatly missed by the church, family and friends.
Card of Thanks
We take this method of thanking our friends and neighbors, who so kindly assisted us during the sickness and burial of our beloved mother. Your kindness will never be forgotten.
MR. AND MRS. O. ROLLENHAGEN
MR. AND MRS. HOYT TAYLOR
MRS. ISAAC CLAWSON"

Fredericka Rollenhagen death certificate.

Fred and Fredericka are buried in the Coopersville-Polkton Cemetery in Coopersville, Ottawa County. THe opposite side of the tombstone has an inscription for Fredericka's father Gottfriend Theel.

Fred and Fredericka's tombstone.

My uncle has a spinning wheel that was handed down in the family. My grandmother gave me the fraktur and a Tea Leaf cup and saucer that once belonged to Fredericka.