Thursday, April 28, 2011

Moritz & Marie Beyer: Family Group Sheet

Moritz & Marie Beyer: The Senior Years


About 1925 – Back row: Olga & Fritz Becker, Sam Hardi, Emil Beyer, Rudolph & Augusta Beyer
Seated: Ella Hardi with daughter Elfrieda, Moritz & Marie Beyer & Ewald.
Ella's daughter Marie Hardi & Rudolph's son Hugo Beyer in front. 
On December 18, 1920, just three days before his son Rudolph and daughter Ella celebrated their double wedding, Moritz Beyer's land acquisitions were completed when he purchased 158 acres from Herman Schmidt, in the southeast portion of the Rutersville College Survey. He now had a total of about 400 acres of farmland.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Moritz & Marie Beyer: After the War

Rudolph came home from the Army and adjustments needed to be made. The Veterans Bureau gave him the choice of learning sign language or lip reading. Since none of his family knew sign language and would have to be trained, he chose to read lips. That way, he could communicate with his family and nearly anyone else without having to teach them a new skill.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Moritz & Marie Beyer: Oldest Son is Drafted

On April 6, 1917, the United States was formally entered the first World War by declaring war on Germany.  Since 1914, a brutal, grinding war had been raging between the "Triple Entente" - Great Britian, France and Russia - and the Central Powers - the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria.  The U.S. Congress passed a selective draft law on May 18, 1917, and the first American troops arrived in France on June 26, 1917.

My grandfather, Rudolph Ernest Beyer, was drafted into the Army of the United States on August 8, 1918, at Taylor, Texas.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Guess What I've Been Doing Instead of Family History

"In 1913, Wyoming ratified the 16th Amendment, providing the three-quarter majority of states necessary to amend the Constitution. The 16th Amendment gave Congress the authority to enact an income tax. That same year, the first Form 1040 appeared after Congress levied a 1 percent tax on net personal incomes above $3,000 with a 6 percent surtax on incomes of more than $500,000.

In 1918, during World War I, the top rate of the income tax rose to 77 percent to help finance the war effort. It dropped sharply in the post-war years, down to 24 percent in 1929, and rose again during the Depression. During World War II, Congress introduced payroll withholding and quarterly tax payments."

From:  "Brief History of IRS", Internal Revenue Service, last modified March 8, 2011, http://www.irs.gov/irs/article/0,,id=149200,00.html.

Therefore, my Great-grandfather, Moritz Beyer, may have had to file a 1913 Form 1040 income tax return.  If so, the filing deadline was March 1, 1914. 

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Moritz & Marie Beyer: Raising a Family in Beyersville

Get togethers for birthdays, weddings and other celebrations were important among Beyersville families
Standing: Flora Wolf, Ella Beyer, Minnie Wolf, Olga & Fritz Becker
Kneeling: Otto Wolf, Rudolph Beyer [date unknown]
A new census was taken in 1910.  On April 18th, the census enumerator visited Moritz and Marie's farm and recorded the following:

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Moritz & Marie Beier Buy a Farm at Beyersville

First home on the Beyersville farm
Working in the cotton gin and renting at Noack, Texas, during most of the decade beginning in 1890, Moritz Beier saved enough money to buy a place that he and Marie could call their own.  Williamson County records show that Moritz purchased a 75 acre farm in the Robbins Pasture survey at Beyersville, on October 1, 1901.  This was the first of several purchases Moritz Beier made over a period of several years.  [Note: Robbins Pasture is occasionally refered to in this blog as "Robinsons Pasture"]