Entry #35

Uncle Gus was one of the few members of my Linder family to settle in the United States. My mom and aunt both mentioned him from time to time. This is not surprising as Uncle Gus lived with their family for a while when they were growing up. He was actually their grand uncle (uncle to their father, Otto) and the younger brother of their grandfather. His full name was Heinrich August Gustave Lindner and he was born in Dresden on 28 May 1862 to Emil Max Heinrich Lindner and Christiane Charlotte Pueschel. The 1900 and 1930 censuses both document that he arrived in the United States in 1885, but I cannot confirm that through immigration records. Gus married Amelia “Mollie” Detzel in Cincinnati in 1891, but she died after a short illness in 1905. Gus and Mollie had no children. My impression of Uncle Gus from family stories was that the was somewhat stern. Nothing that I had heard led me to believe that there was anything warm and fuzzy or avuncular about Gustave.

Otto and Uncle Gus

Despite an impression that Uncle Gus was a bit of an old codger, I did not have an ill opinion of him…at least, not until I found his last will and testament. Uncle Gus died 23 December 1946 in Cincinnati. I was a little shocked to learn that he didn’t leave one penny to my grandfather, his closest living relative in United States. Instead, Gus Lindner’s beneficiaries were his two nieces in Dresden, Elizabeth Groeschel and Elsa Heufner. In fact, Gus didn’t even know if his nieces had survived World War II. These were the daughters of Gus’ sister Minna and my grandfather’s only first cousins. In all fairness, one might have thought that the estate would have been divided three ways, but that was not the case. Maybe Uncle Gus anticipated that his nieces would have the greater need. My grandfather wasn’t rich, but he held a good job as a machinist around that time. That seemed like a logical explanation, but their was an alternate heir if Elizabeth and Elsa did not survive the war, or if they could not inherit because of legal restrictions in post-war East Germany. Suffice it to say, nephew Otto Lindner was not even mentioned in the will.

Gus and Minna Lindner

Uncle Gus named a “friend,” Elise Sommer as his alternate beneficiary. and if she preceded him in death, then, her sister, Mrs. Mina Sherz was to inherit. This is what I found shocking. There was to be nothing for the Gus’ own family in Cincinnati with whom he had lived and shared holidays. I had never heard about any falling out, so I asked my aunt about it. She only said that she wasn’t surprised and that Uncle Gus “really wasn’t a very nice man.”

I doubt I will ever know the real reason that Otto was cut out of the will. It is no secret that families do not always get along.