Adding Family History
Diving into the Family History (Establishing Roots – Connecting to the Past)
Chapter 2: A Name on a List
Jumping to the present (or the protagonist’s timeline), you—the modern-day protagonist—discover a list of family members, stumbling upon the name Robert Schmidlin. It’s a name you’ve never heard spoken before. Who was he? Why is he missing from family stories? This mystery sparks your investigation into the past.
Although remembering a connection with the name Robert or Rob growing up with no reason why. Did my father slip and mention a Robert, was it Grandpa or Grandma, Aunt Alice, or someone else? Did God put a clue in front of me to be found and questioned so I would reconnect later on? I always thought if I had a brother his name would have been Robert- yes as a child I thought this- very weird?
Chapter 3: The Swiss Departure
Shifting to the late 1800s, we meet Josephine Borer-Schmidlin and Beda Schmidlin, your great-grandparents. This chapter shows their decision to leave Switzerland for America. Josephine, restless and ambitious, pushes for the move, while Beda is hesitant but follows out of love. This decision sets the stage for the Schmidlin family’s presence in America and how their Swiss roots influence their traditions.
Great Grandma was a strong woman, and was known in the family to have chased a bull with a pitchfork, somehow escaping harm- could she have run with the bulls in Spain and outrun the Spaniards? Was it just her love of running- that I later came to love so much? Is my love of running with my dogs stemming from Great Grandma?
They came to settle in Queens, NY. Once my grandfather and his siblings finished school one of the jobs my grandfather had was that of a milkman, but not just that but a milkman for Borden! The story goes that my grandmother fell for the milkman! Furthermore, my grandfather was the first milkman for Borden to drive a milk truck and go from horse and buggy to an actual truck!
Chapter 4: The Milkman’s Route
Introducing your grandfather, Leo W. Schmidlin, and his life in Queens as a milkman—the first to drive a Borden’s milk truck. His route takes him past a Ukrainian woman, Frania Steffie Docyk, who eventually becomes his wife. Their love story is woven into the larger family history, grounding the reader in the family’s American life.