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| Otto Schelske |
The information that I have on this branch of my maternal ancestors is a short one, and unless I learn to read German I will forever be in the dark about the Schelske surname history.
I will start with my great grandfather Otto Ernest Schelske, born on March 5, 1855. He came to America in 1882. Prior to his arrival was his uncle Fred Schelske who came 10 years earlier with his family and later settled in Michigan where he owned a fruit tree farm, peaches I think (I don't know who told me that Fred was Otto's uncle, but now I have been thinking that he was actually his brother) This is who I think Otto stayed with until he was able to establish himself. He made his trip to the United States on a ship named 'The Ohio'. The ship's passanger list says Otto was 26 years old, birth and legal residence Prussia, and occupation listed as carpenter. The Ohio took Otto from Bremen,Germany to Baltimore, Maryland where he arrived in February 1882.
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| The Ohio |
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| The Schelske family, Kalkaska, Michigan 1911 |
Otto and Ettie had 7 children, starting with William Leroy Schelske born in November of 1889, followed by Lewis Otto born in March 1891, Arlie March 1892 (died at 19 days old), Delilah Ann born in June 1894, a baby boy born in June 1896 (lived a day), Minnie Irene born in March of 1898, and Ruby Odessa who was born in June and died in August of 1900.
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| William 'Bill' Schelske |
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| Lewis Schelske |
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| Minne and Delilah Schelske |
According to my grandmother, Delilah, her father tried to establish himself as a potato farmer. He had bought land in Antrim County, Michigan when grandma was very small. A story in her memoirs tells of the farm that Otto and Ettie had. Otto had taken another job to make ends meet and Ettie and the children would care for the farm. He had just harvested feed hay and potatoes to put up for sale to make the mortgage payment. In grandma's memoirs she wrote this: "One day, while dad was gone to town, two men came to look at the hay and straw to see if they would want to buy it. Later in the afternoon Lew ran in to tell mother the hay was on fire. He had found a match in the yard, and when he scratched it, he dropped it when it flaired and that set the dry grass and whisps of hay and straw on fire, The wind was blowing quite strong right tward the open doors of the barn. Before he told her, the fire was already inside the barn, so she did not have any chance to stop the fire before it burned to the ground." Otto was not able to make the mortgage payment and lost the farm. They lived from place to place in what seems to be very poor conditions. Living in only what we today would concider a shanty as their only shelter from the harsh northern Michigan winters must have been hell. Grandma and her brothers often where sent to work for well off people and logging camps in the area. Otto worked at a pig iron mill, and drank a lot when the stress of life got to him.
Otto died May 30, 1938 in Garfield Twp., Kalkaska, Michigan. And is buried next to Ettie at the Oliver Twp. Cemetery in Kalkaska County.
