We called my maternal great-grandparents “Granny & Grandpa.” In reality Granny was Amanda (Steinhaus) Beiersdorf (1894-1973) and Grandpa was Herman Beiersdorf (1895-1983). They were born and raised in Sheboygan, Wisconsin; both being first generation descendants of German immigrants. They were each part of large families in the German Lutheran community of Sheboygan. Herman was baptized and confirmed at Immanuel Lutheran Church and Amanda was baptized and confirmed at Bethlehem Lutheran Church. They attended the church affiliated schools, but I don’t think they went to High School. 

In the 1910 U.S. Census, when they were both around 15 years old, they were already working. Amanda was sewing in a glove shop along with her sister, Martha. Herman was wood turning in a chair factory and his brother, Albert was also listed as a laborer in a chair factory. 

I’m not sure how they met, perhaps through family, friends or Lutheran events in Sheboygan. Regardless, they were married July 3, 1916 in Sheboygan. Their witnesses were his brother, Ewald & her sister, Clara. Their church marriage certificate is written in German. I don’t have a formal wedding picture for them, but I wonder if this served as their wedding photo.

Grandpa kept a few notes of special days through many years in a “1955 desk diary” calendar. He marked a note on February 25 that they moved to Port Washington, WI in 1917. His WWI draft card states that at the age of 22yrs he was a department foreman for the Wisconsin Chair Co. in Port Washington. Herman is listed in the 1920 U.S. Census as a boarder and working as a shop foreman. Amanda is not listed with him and I couldn’t find her in the 1920 census at all. She may have been in Sheboygan visiting relatives and missed the census taker in each city. On August 23, 1920 in Port Washington, their daughter, Lucille was born. The family continued to live there until 1923. He noted that they moved back to Sheboygan March 28, 1923. 

Herman also noted that on October 1, 1923 they had a “new home.” 

The young family moved into a new house in Wedemeyer’s addition on South 14th Street in Sheboygan. They lived in this house for 50 years. In this home, they hosted family gatherings and “card parties” through the years. They remodeled it a few times; in particular, they enclosed the porch before I remember visiting as a child. On that enclosed porch they had toys for us to play with. The interior stairs were perfect for us as kids to scoot down on our backsides. There was an alley and garage in the back of the house. Posts were set in the ground in the back yard for clotheslines. Mom remembers that they had a wringer washing machine in the basement and as a child she would sometimes help run the clothes through the wringer to the rinse water & through the wringer again to baskets. The clothes were hung on the lines behind the house. The house is still standing.

The 1928 City Directory of Sheboygan has Herman working for the Bemis-Riddell Fibre Company. In the 1930 U.S. Census, the home is valued at $3000. Herman is a laborer in a Fiber Factory. In the 1940 U.S. Census records, Herman is listed as working as a finisher in a Leather Factory. He reported on his WW2 Draft card that he worked for the Armour Leather Company. In 1950, the U.S. Census has Herman listed as a leather finisher for a Tanning Company.

In 1930, there was a newspaper article reporting that Herman Beiersdorf of N. Fourteenth street was sentenced to 90 days in jail for beating his wife. Three days later, The Sheboygan Press printed another article clarifying the address again, stating that Herman Beiersodorf of S. Fourteenth street was not the same man. I guess someone had mistaken Grandpa for the convicted man. 

My Mother remembers that “Grandpa was a gentle man, hard worker, always pleasant to be with.” She said that when he would come home from work, he would change clothes & hang his work clothes in the back hall so the smell wouldn’t get inside the house. I expect the smell was from formaldehyde, which was used in the tanning process. In fact, I remember as a child rummaging through old “formaldehyde barrels” that he had used for storage. Looking back, it may not have been a good idea to reuse those barrels for personal storage.

Mom remembers Granny as being “kind, gentle, pleasant, submissive, usually doing something in the kitchen wearing an apron or working in the garden.” She would walk a few blocks to the butcher shop & would order weekend breakfast coffee cake from a local German bakery.

She also told me that Granny didn’t write much and may have been embarrassed by her lack of education. We have only this one note in her handwriting.

The couple started traveling some as they got older. In 1955 they took a “Happiness Tours” trip to New York where they visited Niagara Falls and New York City. They managed to visit their daughter, Lucille’s family in Missouri when the family was stationed there with the U.S. Army. Lucille and her two daughters would also sometimes stay with Herman and Amanda if they were not able to move with Lucille’s husband, John Chvarack.

They celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in 1956.

Herman retired in 1958.

On March 18, 1961, The Sheboygan Press reported that Herman & Amanda were traveling to visit their daughter Lucille Chvarack and family in Frankfurt, Germany. They planned to spend the summer in Europe. While there they planned to visit Holland, Paris, Garmisch, Berchtesgaden & other tourist attractions.

Here they are in front of the apartment  complex where they were visiting. 

They did manage to tour the country, however, the trip did not quite go as they expected. The Sheboygan Press reported on July 19, 1961 that Amanda had a “serious heart attack” while in Germany and was hospitalized at an American hospital. She was to stay in the country for four more months for recovery. The Press also included a mailing address for her in Germany. She did recover from that event and they eventually returned home. 

  

They spent their 50th wedding anniversary in 1966 with family in San Antonio, TX. Their daughter and family had returned to the U.S. by then and they had two great-grandchildren as well. I remember that Granny and Grandpa would visit us wherever we lived in the U.S.

Amanda died in Sheboygan June 20, 1973 from heart failure. Soon after this, Herman sold the house and moved to Salinas, California to live with his daughter & granddaughter, Lois (1947-1991). I remember visiting them & he always had gum or candy for us if we behaved in church. He liked to laugh & tap us playfully with his cane to get our attention. He spent the rest of his life in California, where he died April 19, 1983 from a stroke. He and Amanda are entombed at the Garden Terrace Mausoleum in Sheboygan. 

© MJM 2026