When my great-grandfather Gottlob Maier immigrated to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1881, he already had family there.  Three uncles, Johann Friedrich (Frederick), Christian and Karl Wilhelm (Charles) Maier, previously had made the move from Plieningen near Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg.  This week for the theme of “Commencement” I will focus on the grandchildren of Christian Maier and Christinia Sophie Renner Maier, who had four daughters.  Their eldest, Bertha (1857-1935), married William Vonder Halben (1847 – 1920).  William was an emigre from Hannover who was a journalist and editor for the German newspaper, the Cincinnati Volksfreund.  He was musically inclined and at one time reported on the Cincinnati music world. Later he was the commercial editor.  Together Bertha and William produced three children who became teachers and one that became a university registrar.

William Vonder Halben Jr. was born 21 May 1885.  He graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1910 and became a German teacher in the Cincinnati school system.  He married Elsa Elizabeth Pfaffinger of New York, who graduated from the university in 1908.

William Vonder Halben – 1925 Woodward High School Yearbook- Cincinnati, Ohio (found on DeadFred.com)

The second child, Emilie Vonder Halben (born about 1886), seems to be the only child who did not pursue education beyond the 8th grade.  She married Otto F. Winkleman and had one child.

Elenora Clara Vonder Halben was known as “Ella” and born in December of 1890.  She was the first of the Vonder Halben daughters to attend the University of Cincinnati.  Ella was accomplished in German, as one may have expected.  She was the Secretary of the German Club in her junior year and the President in her senior year.  She also was in the Girl’s Club, the Women’s League and the University Club. She made a career of teaching school.

Eleanor Clara Vonder Halben – 1913 Cincinnatian, University of Cincinnati

Matilda “Tillie” Vonder Halben came into the world on 22 Jul 1892.  Two years behind Ella, she followed closely in her footsteps at the University of Cincinnati, graduating in 1915.  She was even more involved in school extracurricular acclivities than was Ella. Besides being a leader in the German Club like her sister, she was also part of the Blue Hydra (a biology club) and the History Club.  Tillie taught school, and I was even to locate several published lesson plans for social studies from a 1919 publication, “Lesson Plans in English, Arithmetic and Geography, for Grades Fourth to Eighth.” It is available on Google Books.

Matilda Vonder Halben – 1915 Cincinnatian, University of Cincinnati

The last child was Frieda Vonder Halben, born 30 April 1894.  She did not go to university.  Instead she graduated from the Cincinnati Night School where she pursued her interest in senior bookkeeping.  At first was a clerk at the University of Cincinnati, but she eventually was promoted to registrar.  Her night school yearbook described her as having a shy temperament, which may be why teaching didn’t suit her.

Frieda Vonder Halben – East Night High School -Senior Class – 1914

Ella, Tillie and Frieda never married.  They lived together and, according to census records, appear to have done so with comfortable means.  My mother remembered their mother as “Aunt Bertha,” a woman who was kind to her family during the depression.  She brought her Lindner cousins lovely “hand-me-down” clothes that were worn by my mother and my aunt.

I was able to document the graduates of the University of Cincinnati using “Directory of Living Graduates, May, 1920” by the University of Cincinnati Alumni Association.  I think it is rather extraordinary that this family was so dedicated to education.  Ella and Tillie are among the few women in my family that I have found who where college graduates this early in he last century.