The Nichols-Kulick Family (Pt 6) - Minnie, Charles & Mamie

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Minnie Kulick would never give anybody her true age and I have to say she was cute about it as well as being cute herself.  (Note from John Stoskopf:  As Donald would point out, Minnie's death notice gives her birth date as September 6, 1889 which is too close to her brother's date of birth so his belief is that it should read 1888.  I was able to verify that date via the internet.)

Minnie Kulick

Aunt Minnie married a fellow that delivered milk for a living.  (Note from John Stoskopf:  We know that he was killed.  Unfortunately Donald did not give a name of Minnie's first husband.  My mother Marjorie has a memory of Grandma Martha telling her he was killed in World War I.)

William Stein & Minnie Kulick-Stein

She then married William Stein who was born on November 20, 1891.  Uncle Bill worked for the DeSoto Car Division of the Chrysler Motor Company.  He was a foreman at the DeSoto Plant that was located just inside the Detroit city limits next to Dearborn.  I believe he retired from there.  

One thing he loved to do was bowling.  He played many bowling tournaments.  He passed away on June 6, 1968 and he and Minnie did not have any children.

Minnie Stein with a friend.

Aunt Minnie passed away on March 13, 1980 and both her and Uncle Bill are buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit, MI.

(Note from John Stoskopf:  I remember when Minnie died and attended her funeral with my mother and dad.  It was a shock as her passing was so soon after the loss of my own grandmother only five days earlier.)

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Mystery Photo!

My grandmother Martha Kulick, her mother Caroline, (?), (?) & sister Helen Kulick (ca. 1920)

Cousin Donald Ash has a curious sentence in his "Family Tree" compilation which refers to "some of the Rienas farms near Utica, Michigan." 

In this photo we find my grandmother Martha Kulick (left) standing next to her mother Caroline Rienas Nichols-Kulick.  The landscape suggests a farm-like area.

Next to Caroline is an unknown woman and then we have a man who is being closely held onto by Martha's younger sister Helen Kulick.

The sisters in the Nichols-Kulick family remained fairly close throughout their lives.  My mother recalls them even having what they refered to as the "Sisters Club".  On occasion they would spend the afternoon together before their husbands would join later in the day.  I have three precious photographs from one of these events with all the sisters at my grandmother's home sometime in the 1930s.

This makes the Nichols-Kulick brothers a scarcity on film which pushes me to hopeful speculation that just maybe this is a photo of Charles Kulick.

(Donald Ash writes:  

Charles Kulick was born on October 7, 1889 and passed away on September 1, 1960.  The only thing I can tell you about Uncle Charley was that he remained a bachelor and lived a good part of his life with his sister Mamie.  Where he worked and what he did I have no idea.)

There were few Nichols-Kulick brothers.  My mother Marjorie knows this is not brother Herman Nichols.  She did not know Richard Nichols, but by Donald's description of his life he seems more unlikely to fit this person's image than my idea that he could be Charles Kulick.

Charles would be 10 years older than Martha who would be in her early 20s here.  This appears to be taken not too long before Caroline's death in 1922.  Although this man could be older than Martha he still appears to be too young to be father Frederick Kulick.  If there was such a thing as the Rienas farms, and history only leaves rumors as to what happened to Frederick, it's conceivable to believe this person was a help to Caroline in maintaining the land.  If he's just hired help, they all seem very close to him.  

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Mamie (May) Kulick

Mamie Kulick was born on June 8, 1892 in Detroit, MI.  This would make her the new youngest child when the newly created Nichols-Kulick family came into being.

Mamie (May) Kulick Metzner & Herman (Harry) Metzner (front seated)

(Behind them) Sister Minnie Kulick Stein & George Shaff (most likely Herman's best man)

Mamie (or May as she was also known to the family) married Herman (Harry) Metzner who was born February 12, 1891 and passed away on January 3, 1960.

They had one daughter Ruth (born January 1, 1919).  Ruthie married Raymond Curle who was born April 23, 1917 and passed away on February 6, 1986.  They had one son Raymond J. Curle born September 27, 1942 and two grandsons, Raymond J Curle Jr. (born February 5, 1966) and Robert J. Curle (born June 2, 1968)

Mamie Kulick Metzner passed away on November 21, 1963.

Ruth Metzner Curle passed away on May 13, 2003

Ruth Metzner's graduation (June 1936)

The Nichols-Kulick Family (Pt 5) - Anna Kulick and her family

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...and then there were nine.

Donald Ash continues:

When Gustiv Nichols died he left Caroline widowed with five children:   Mary, Herman, Emma, Richard & Alma Nichols.

I don't believe any of the cousins that are living (1994 at the time of this writing) knows anything about Frederick Kulick (who would become Caroline's second husband) other than he was born in Germany as well as his first wife. (There is no further information on Mrs. Kulick or what happened to her.)  When he married Caroline Rienas Nichols he had four children of his own: Anna, Minnie, Charles & Mamie.

Anna Kulick

My mother (Emma) told me that the first rule of this new family laid down by Grandma Caroline was that she did not want to hear any one of the children call one another a step-sister or step-brother.  Those of us who are still around know this to be true because we still feel that way.  (Note from John Stoskopf:  My mother Marjorie concurs with this story as it was also handed down to her by her mother Martha.)

Anna Kulick, like her parents, was born in Germany on June 15, 1886 (which still leaves Mary & Herman Nichols as the oldest children of the family and herself very close in age to Emma.)  Where Aunt Annie worked when she was a young girl I do not know.

She married Louis L. Berg who was born on April 18, 1890 and they had three children.

Father Louis L. Berg sits blinded by one of his sons.  (ca. 1920)
(We do not know for certain but I'm betting this is the youngest child, James C. Berg.)

Shown here is Anna (Ann) Kulick-Berg on the left.

I believe these are her three children with the oldest, Louis J. Berg, sitting in the middle shielding his eyes. Louis was born on January 27, 1911.

Next to him looks to me like the second child Beatrice Berg (born June 13, 1912).

The youngest child is James Berg (born March 24, 1914) sitting in the foreground. We are also not totally certain but think the boy on the right may be the youngest Kulick sibling Walter.

Another photo from the same day (taken in the mid 1910s) featuring what I think is all three of the Berg children, Jim, Beatrice & Louis.

(Donald Ash continues:)

When I got to know Uncle Lou he was a Police Officer for the City of Detroit and was promoted through the ranks until he became the Chief of Police.

I have to put this in here:  Uncle Lou was known as a good and clean cop.  In fact, that was why he was made Chief and cleaned up the police department while he was in charge.

(Detroit News article -ca. 1940)

(From John Stoskopf:)

We'd collected a few articles on Uncle Lou over the years and looking through them I found stories that  tell of how he joined the Detroit Police force in 1911, became deputy superintendent November 1936 and finally superintendent in January 1940.  He retired from the force in 1944.

Louis J. Berg (oldest son of Anna & Louis)

(Donald Ash continues:)

Louis J. Berg was born Juanuary 27, 1911 in Detroit, MI.   After graduating from high school he enrolled at the University of Detroit where he played football until he received a serious shoulder injury.

After graduating he joined the Detroit Police Department and like his dad worked his way through the ranks until he also became Chief of Police and remained with the police department until he retired.

During the time he was in the department he married Kathern Kramer and had one son Louis Berg III.   His second marriage was to a lady named Carole and they had two boys James and Kevin.

Beatrice Berg

Beatrice Berg was born on June 13, 1912 in Detroit, MI.  Afer she graduated from high school she attended Mary Grove College earning a teaching degree and worked in the Detroit School system until she retired.

During this time she married Charles J. Hitt on October 19, 1940.  Since she grew up in the police department naturally she had to marry a policeman also.  Charles was born on July 23, 1907 and passed away on August 5, 1963.

They had three sons, Chuck who married and had two sons and two daughters, Jim who married and has two daughters and one son and Ron who (at the time of this writing) was single.

Virginia & Jim Berg

Jim Berg was born March 24, 1914 in Detroit, MI.  During World War II he was working for the Federal Government and when he came home he joined his brother on the police force becoming Louis' assistant until he retired.

Jim married Virginia Wencel on October 6, 1945.  Virginia was born June 12, 1917 and worked for the Detroit News until she retired.  Jim & Virginia did not have children of their own.

Louis is shown between sons Jim (left) & Louis J. Berg (right) from a news article dated August 19, 1954

Louis L. Berg (center) passed away on January 20, 1964

It is said that Louis L. Berg never wanted his sons to become police officers yet both joined the force on their own.  Louis J. entered the department in 1934 and James C. in 1939.   Louis J. eventually became superintendent like his father with James C. joining him by his side as deputy superintendent.  Both sons retired simultaneously in November of 1962 to begin a private security consulting firm together.

Louis passed away on June 6, 1980.  Jim retired from consulting work in 1977.  He passed away May 1, 2003.  Beatrice passed away on October 2, 2005.

Anna Kulick-Berg (shown on the left at Martha Findahl's home in the 1930s) passed away on October 31, 1976 at age 90.

(Next to her is sister Mamie and on the end is daughter Beatrice Berg.)

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The Nichols-Kulick Family (Pt 4) - Richard & Alma Nichols and their families

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(Note from John Stoskopf:  At this part of the story I hit a visual dry-spell.  Of the next two of the Nichols' children I have very little on Alma and no photograph at all of Richard.  In fact, my mother Marjorie doesn't have any recollection of "Uncle Rick", but we do have a fairly decent written history of him thanks to Don Ash.)

Donald Ash continues:

Richard Nichols was born January 14, 1888 in Detroit, MI and what he did in his early life I do not know.  He served in the Army during the First World War.  He married a lady named Loraine from Buffalo, NY and they had one son named Edward.  

Edward served with the Marines in the South Pacific during World War II and saw a lot of fighting there.  I only saw Eddie once after the war and have no idea where he is now.

Aunt Loraine was born in 1901 because she was 26 years old when she passed away on November 11, 1927.  When we were growing up our parents never really told us the reason why a person died.  I believe Aunt Loraine died from complications of a child birth and is buried in Gethsemane Cemetery in Detroit, MI.  (Note:  Donald does not give a particular reason why he believes this.)

Uncle Rick was remarried to a Myrtle Pelke who had a son by the name of Frank.  (Note:  I can only suppose this was from a previous marriage.)  Myrtle was born on August 18, 1898.  All I know of Frank is that he worked for Chrysler Motor Company.

In the latter part of his life Uncle Rick worked for the old Detroit Street Railway as a conductor and as a motorman until he passed away on December 13, 1965 and is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery.  Myrtle died on April 17, 1975 and is also buried there. 

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Alma Nichols (shown next to Aunt Mary) from a 1930s photo taken at my grandmother's home.

Alma Nichols was born on August 20, 1890.  What she did as a young girl I do not know.  (Note from John Stoskopf:  Unfortunately once more I come into a situation where I seem to have more data on the family that was married into instead of my own.  Still, I wish to identify as much as I can.)  

Alma married a Joseph Schemanske sometime between 1910 & 1914.  Uncle Joe came from a large family with one brother working for the Detroit Free Press, another in the Wayne County Court House and one (Frank) was a Wayne County Judge and he may have had one more brother and a sister.  (Note:  A sister is identified in the accompaning obituary.)    

As long as I can remember Uncle Joe ran a saloon and a bowling alley located on 24th St. in Detroit which is in the neighborhood he grew up in.

Edwin (Edward) & Joe Schemanske  (Joe can also be seen in the photo from Bernice & Donald's wedding ceremony shown in the previous section.)

Alma & Joseph had three sons Edwin (Jan 2, 1915-Aug 1979), Joe (Nov 16, 1918-Jun 1982) & Norman (Feb 5, 1921-May 4, 2003)

Edwin (aka Edward) was married to a Lucille (January 10, 1919-April 30, 1977) and they had a daughter Donna.  Joe remained a bachelor.  He and Norman (family and friends called him 'Beano') served in the Army.  Norman married a girl named Stella and lived in Livonia, MI.  Both Eddie and Beano worked for the City of Detroit but I don't know where Joe worked. 

Although I have no photo of Norman Schemanske, he and his wife Stella attended my Grandfather Gordon's funeral.

After Aunt Alma died on April 11, 1954 Uncle Joe sold the bowling alley and worked as a process server for the Wayne County Courts until he died.

Alma Nichols Schemanske's brother-in-law Frank G. Schemanske

Alma was the youngest child of Gustiv and Caroline Nichols after Mary, Herman, Emma & Richard.  I have no definite date of Grandpa Gustiv's death but from the birth dates of the children born to him and Grandma Nichols and then Grandpa Kulick, he must of passed away sometime between the years of 1890 and 1895.  (As mentioned before, the story of his death was that he died from heat prostration after a day's work digging graves.)  

I have just mentioned Grandpa Kulick.  Well, this is where Caroline Nichols makes the Nichols and the Kulicks into one family.  

Here are my thoughts about how Caroline Nichols and Frederick Kulick knew one another.  The first one is that the two families knew each other by living in the same neighborhood or attending the same church.  The second is that the two grandfathers worked together in the cemetery.  We know Grandpa Gustiv Nichols was a gravedigger and Grandpa Frederick Kulick owned a large cemetery plot in the Forest Lawn Cemetery where many of the relatives are buried, including one person that no one of us seems to know.  (Note from John Stoskopf:  Unfortunately at the time of this writing Donald did not know where Gustiv Nichols is buried.)

When Frederick Kulick married Caroline Rienas Nichols, he also had four children of his own.  (Another theory is that the unknown person buried in the Kulick plot is Frederick's previous wife.)

With the addition of Anna, Minnie, Charles and Mamie there were now nine children in the the newly created Nichols-Kulick family!

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The Nichols-Kulick Family (Pt 3) - Herman & Emma Nichels and their family

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Although I do not have a photograph of Herman Nichels, I have his signature from the attendance book of my Grandpa Findahl's funeral.  Notice not only the preference for the 'e' spelling but I find it intriguing he left off the 's' from Nichels.

Donald Ash writes:
Herman J. Nichels was born on December 22, 1885 in Detroit, MI (making him the first naturalized American citizen of the family.)

Herman was a bachelor and worked at many different trades; one (which he loved to talk about) was when he sailed on the Great Lakes freighters.  He started out as a deck hand and finally became a wheelsman.  Why he did not stay working on the freighters I do not know.  (Note from John Stoskopf:  My mother Marjorie recalls Uncle Herman liked to build model ships and she remembers some of his work on display at Aunt Emma's house.)

During the depression he bought himself a farm located north of Howell, MI and raised chickens for their eggs which he sold to neighboring stores or bartered for goods he needed at the time.

He sold the farm during World War II and boarded with my Mom and Dad working at Ford Motor all during the war. When the war was over the company wanted him to move from one plant to another but instead he retired and lived with Mom and Dad in Dearborn, MI until he died on October 16, 1970 from natural causes.

Emma Ottilie Nickels

Donald continues:  My mother was born on November 11, 1886 in the same home as the rest of the family located on Cleveland Street which is now Vernor near Graitiot Avenue in Detroit, MI.  In her early years she worked as a cigar maker as did some of her sisters.

I understand that my mother and father met at a dance which was very popular in those days.   They were married on July 1, 1916.

Clarence & Emma (Nichels) Ash

My Dad Clarence Ash was born on December 27, 1885 near Belleville, MI and raised on a farm where my Grandpa Ash was working on shares.  Grandpa Ash never owned his own farm but in his later years he also was a bartender in a saloon in Carlton, MI.

Dad became a barber in town until one day he and his cousin decided to join the Navy.  Dad would spend four years serving on President Teddy Roosevelt's Great White Fleet which consisted of 16 battleships.  All of the supporting ships that made up the fleet were painted white and sent around the world to show that the United States was a strong nation.

Flagship Connecticut: One of a set of commemorative postcards of the ships of the Great White Fleet

Dad always thought of himself as being very fortunate as this little cruise lasted over two years and it allowed him to see the world, something he would have never been able to do on his own.

He was aboard the U.S.S. Connecticut, which was the Flagship of the fleet.  When he was discharged he had the rank of Second Class Gunners' Mate.

Map of the Great White Fleet's voyage. (Map created by João Felipe C.S)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Great White Fleet was the popular nickname for the United States Navy battle fleet that completed a circumnavigation of the globe from 16 December 1907 to 22 February 1909 by order of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt.

It consisted of 16 battleships divided into four squadrons, along with various escorts. Roosevelt sought to demonstrate growing American military power and blue-water navy capability.

President Theodore Roosevelt [on the 12-inch (30 cm) gun turret at right] addresses officers and crewmen on the Connecticut, in Hampton Roads, Virginia, upon her return from the Fleet's cruise around the world, 22 February 1909.

I wonder if Uncle Clarence is somewhere here!

When Mom met Dad he was working as a machinist and later was hired into Ford Motor Company working with Uncle Frank as a Pattern Maker until he retired 33 years later.

I (Donald Ash) was born on December 10, 1919.  A couple of years after I was born Mom and Dad bought a lot and built a small home in Springwells Township which is now part of the City of Dearborn.  Here I grew up and went to school, worked at Greenfield Village, joined the Army Air Corps, served four years as an instructor after graduation from the Airplane Mechanic School and was also a B-24 Engineer Instructor.

I was discharged in December of 1945 with the rank of S/Sgt..  After returning home I became a Metal Pattern Maker like my dad at Ford Motor Company and retired after 35 years.

Marjorie Findahl (Donald's cousin), Joe Tardiff (Bernice's brother), Anna Mae Tardiff (Bernice's sister and Maid of Honor), Leo Szwalick (Donald's friend and Best Man), Bernice & Donald Ash, Joe Schemanske (Donald's cousin) & Betty Wilson (friend of the family) - June 28, 1947

A short time after being discharged I met Bernice J. Tardiff who was born on June 21, 1927 in Highland Park, MI.  After our courtship we became husband and wife on June 28, 1947 and lived in the  termporary home of Mom and Dad's for a while.  Here two of our three children (James & Kathy) were born.  We moved to our present home in 1953 just a couple of months before our third child (Gary) was born.

The first time I brought Bernice home to meet my mom and dad she spotted a picture of a certain girl on our mantel shelf and wanted to know why we had her picture.  She was so surprised and said, "I know that girl!"  I explained she was my cousin Marjorie Findahl and Bernice told us that she went to school with Marjorie.  So when we got married we asked Marjorie to become one of the bride's maids.

I grew up as the only child but I did have a sister that died in infancy.  According to a note I found she was born in June 1921 and is buried in The Lutheran Cemetery on June 13, 1921.

Clarence Ash passed away on August 3, 1971.  (Note from John Stoskopf:  While not trying to be morbid I wish to explain a memory of my own about Mr. Ash.  I went with my mother, father and Grandma Martha Findahl to visit the funeral home where Uncle Clarence was after he died.  It was the first time I'd ever been to something like this and no one had forced me to go, I felt at age 11 it was time.  After all, death is at least as important as life and it had the profound effect on me I suspected it would.)

Emma Ash passed away on January 14, 1981.







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The Nichols-Kulick Family (Pt 2) - Aunt Mary

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Mary Nichols (shown here in the 1930s)

Mary Nichols was born to Gustiv & Caroline (Rienas) Nichols in Germany, March 5, 1883.  She would be living in the United States with her family in Detroit, MI by the time she was a year old.

(Note:  I have three photographs of the many sisters in the Nichols-Kulick family from which many of my individual 'portraits' like the one above will be copied from.  The three originals can be found in Martha Findahl's album on my Facebook account and will be reproduced in one of my blogs here for Martha's birthday in November 2010.)

Mary met and married Frank Temme (who was born on June 20, 1879) around the year of 1900.

From Don Ash:  I believe Aunt Mary worked with my mother in the cigar factory until she was married and did not work outside the home after that.

Uncle Frank was a pattern maker with Ford Motor Company and eventually was promoted to a "Star Man" which is (one step up from what) a foreman (is) today.  When Uncle Frank started with Ford he worked with a Charles E. Sorenson who was also a pattern maker and later became the president of Ford Motor Company, but under the strict hand of Henry Ford.

(Some history from the internet states basically Mr. Sorenson was an 'officer of the company' and goes on to say "Speaking figuratively, he saw himself during most of his career as "a viceroy ruling the production province of the Ford empire", and at the end as a "regent" who managed the company during the "interregnum" between the reigns of Henry Ford I and Henry Ford II.")

Donald continues:  The reason I mention this is because at Uncle Frank's funeral Mr. Sorenson told Aunt Mary not to worry about transporation for the family or guests.  He furnished all of the cars from the Ford 'motor pool' and all of the drivers.  When the driver of the car I rode in wanted to know just who (had died) I told him he was my uncle and a good friend of Mr. Sorensen...and he said no more.

Mary (Nichols) Temme (right) at my parents' (Robert & Marjorie Stoscup) wedding, January 7, 1950.  From a rare photo not used in their wedding album.  (Note:  I do not seem to have any photographs of Mary's husband Frank Temme.)

Donald continues:  Before Mary & Frank moved to Grosse Pointe they lived on Sheridan in Detroit not too far from Belle Isle.  Every Sunday afternoon Uncle Frank would like to ride around Belle Isle no matter what the weather.

He loved to travel but Aunt Mary did not and when Uncle Frank wanted to move to Grosse Pointe she hesitated for many years.  (It appears they were living in their new home for only about a year before Mr. Temme died.)

Frank Temme passed away on August 28, 1935 in his Grosse Pointe home.  My mother Marjorie remembers when she was a child that home in Grosse Pointe seemed so big to her she could get lost in it.  She also recalls they liked having a very ornate wreath on their door at Christmas time but Aunt Mary stopped that practice after Uncle Frank died.

Clarence W. Temme 

Mary & Frank had two children.  Clarence was born October 17, 1903 in Detroit and in the late 1920s & early 1930s he played piano in a band.  He worked mostly as a teller in banks and cashier work for different companies in the Detroit area.  He also served in the Army during World War II.  It is not certain if he was ever married but he had no children.  He died March 7, 1977 in Rochester, MI.  (He was living at that time in Lake Orion, MI.)

Gladys Temme

Their second child, daughter Gladys was born February 10, 1910 in Detroit.

Update June 2, 2011

Gladys Temme

Knowing that our photograph of Gladys must be near 100 years old and that, in my opinion, it was in excellent shape always irritated me that I could not reproduce it well digitally.  I thought I'd take the time to illustrate the difference by leaving the original scan (above) posted along with this new scan.  The original print shows a lot of 'silver' which causes the distortion shown above.  We had a new print made from the original and that is what you now see.


Donald writes:  I believe Gladys after graduating from High School worked as a sales person in many of the large and well known stores in Detroit and Grosse Pointe.

Gladys (Temme) Gore

Gladys married Edward Gore (ca. 1936).  Ed worked in one of the automotive plants in the area and one day after work he came home and found Gladys on the floor of their home where she fell after having a massive heart attack.  The date of her death is June 29, 1970.

Gladys and Ed had no children.  At the time of this writing (1994) Ed was still alive but we have no other information on him after that.

Mary Nichols Temme passed away on January 1, 1953 in Grosse Pointe, MI

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The Nichols-Kulick Family (Pt 1)

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About the Author, Donald Ash:

Author Donald Ash

Near Christmas 1994 my mother (Marjorie Findahl Stoscup) received a document in the mail from her cousin Donald.  It was called "The Family Tree" and in it Donald had compiled information on his family tree, this being the first volume entitled "Ash, Nickels or Nichols and Kulick".

Of this work Cousin Donald stated that "Some members of the families have been asking for something like this for a long time.  I hope you will enjoy reading about the families.  I just wish I had not waited so long to write this paper and had listened a little harder when my parents were telling me about the family."

Yours Truly,
Bernice (wife) & Don Ash

Cousin Donald was the son of Clarence Ash & Emma (Nichels) Ash
(Emma preferred the Nichels spelling over Nichols)

I can relate to cousin Donald, except in my case the family didn't pass on a lot information about their history, I believe simply because they were so used to "living in the now".

As a child I still recall the reaction I got when asking my Grandmother what her name was.  I knew it wasn't just "Grandma" and I can still see her eyes looking back at me in a pause perhaps wondering why I would be so curious as she quietly replied, "Martha".

The photographs I have been recreating digitally come from her collection of family images I've been aquainted with all my life.  This has been since the days we would visit Grandma as children and I would spend a lot of time pouring through her albums up in her attic wondering, just who are all these people and how do I fit into their story?

Don Ash  (Dearborn, MI - July 1943)

For decades I've had this dream of connecting all the dots between these images and my life.  Finally, with the advent of the internet along with the pioneering work of Cousin Donald and others before me, I can put together some of the pieces of the puzzle and come to know some of the characters within these images.

Along with this work, my mother Marjorie has a lot of memories which, when I can, I use to help set the mood of the times and humanize the characters.  After all, this is where we came from and this is what colorizes what we are.

Donald goes on to write "We have only compiled the 'Ash, Nichels or Nichols and Kulick' families at this time.  ...I would appreciate it very much if you would send me...information that is missing, like maiden names, names of children, dates of any kind pertaining to the family or any interesting happenings...what our parents did before they were married, stuff like that."

I do not know if any more information was collected or compiled or if Donald was ever able to finish the work he began, but it is to my endless gratitude that I have what he started in my hands today which forms the foundation of this series on what I am calling "The Nichols-Kulick Family".

While my Grandfather Gordon Findahl left us with a pretty good selection of photographs which tell a rich visual story of his family, photos of my Grandmother Martha Kulick's very early family life are scarce.

Where the visual does not exist, Cousin Donald has enriched us with his written work about those early days and tells us just who the Nichols-Kulick Family were and what they may have been like.

Donald Ash recently passed away, April 29, 2009 at the age of 89.

Caroline (Rienas) Nichols-Kulick & My Grandma Martha Kulick

Donald refers to the family as "Nichels or Nichols-Kulick" and for simplicity and based off of the spelling that my Grandmother Martha used I am making the preference to Nichols.  As for the Nichols-Kulick connection, this woman shown, my Great-Grandmother Caroline Rienas is the common denominator between both families.

Caroline Rienas' mother's maiden name was Pilkie.  Caroline was born in Germany 1862 (exact date not known at this time.)

According to Cousin Donald, Caroline had sisters named Laura & Tinna and brothers named Carl, Fred & Gust.

Caroline married Gustiv Nichols in Germany and they had their first child there, a daughter named Mary in 1883.

From Donald Ash:  (Gustiv Nichols) came to the United States first leaving (Caroline Rienas) and (their daughter) Mary in Germany (this was after the German Empire was formed in 1871) until he could find a job to earn enough money to send for them.

He settled in Detroit because some of his relatives had come over earlier and had taken up residence in and around the Detroit area.  ...Caroline also had relatives in this area before she came to the United States (which may have helped influence the decision to move here.)  I figure (he) arrived in 1881 or 1882 and then (Caroline) arrived in the Summer of 1883 because Mary was about five months old at the time.

Unidentified woman with my Great-Grandmother Caroline visiting the cemetery

Donald continues:  I do not know much about (Gustiv) Nichols except that he was an ordinary laborer and was working as a grave digger when he died.  I was told that he died from heat prostration after a day's work.  (Note, this is what my mother Marjorie has told me as well.)

The exact date I do not know but it had to be between 1890-1895 based on the birth dates of the children.  Where (Gustiv) Nichols is buried I do not know.  I understand that (Caroline) did not have too much money at the time of his death and the cemetery where he was working donated a plot for his burial.

Caroline Nichols had five children with Gustiv Nichols.  They are Mary, Herman, Emma, Richard & Alma.

She died September 25, 1922 at the age of 60 and is buried in Gethsemane Cemetery in Detroit, MI (which is off of Gratiot & Conner St. very close to the City Airport.)  She is located in Section D Lot #414 in a plot purchased by Uncle Frank Temme.

My mother Marjorie remembers:  Grandma Martha learned about her mother's death when she was called home from work on that day.


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