Klever - Brummer Family History

Discover the Klever - Brummer Family History, German-American ancestors from Ostfriesland, Germany who emigrated to America; to the 'land of the free.' Imagine living in the 1800's and leaving your homeland of Germany to become a Pioneer in the American Midwest. Would you leave your homeland, say goodbye to family for years, or travel to America for land of opportunity? These are the questions our ancestors faced. Their future was uncertain, they did not know how long their ship...
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Discover the Klever - Brummer Family History, German-American ancestors from Ostfriesland, Germany who emigrated to America; to the 'land of the free.' Imagine living in the 1800's and leaving your homeland of Germany to become a Pioneer in the American Midwest. Would you leave your homeland, say goodbye to family for years, or travel to America for land of opportunity? These are the questions our ancestors faced. Their future was uncertain, they did not know how long their ship voyage would be "Across the Pond" to America, the English language, or understand customs of a new country. Our ancestry begins with two families crossing the ocean, the Klever's and the Bummer's, who eventually weave their lives together through marriage. The story of our family history is interesting, intriguing, and at times overwhelming. Learn what they endured to come to America, buy land, and build their farmhouses on prairie land with neighboring Native Americans. Our ancestors yearned to leave their German homeland, to come to a free country where they could continue working as craftsmen and farmers. German immigrant farmers were invited to America by the government because they were excellent farmers who could develop the Midwest by farming, and growing crops for food. Our immigrants found the Midwest prairie vastly different than what they imagined. Could you have survived bitter cold Midwest winters, plagues of farmland locust and drought, or the Great Depression? Both of our ancestors Henry Klever and Harry Klever did, they were brothers who bravely pioneered the Midwest. Over 100 years later, "Century Farm" state certificates were earned by both brothers for their original family-built farms. This history book complies 40 years of research, documented and written by our mother, Marilynne G. (Dather) Ocando, genealogist, who passed away in 2018. Our German-American ancestry book captures the lives of over 3,100 family members. Chapters showcase descendants from the 1600's, castles, emigration voyages, farm life, 1920 family bootlegging, holiday customs, personal stories, heirlooms, and military service. Experience conflicts of fighting in the Civil War, WWI and WWII as German Americans, and cherish Memories of Yesteryear.