The Story of Jacob and Maria Link - Part 6 of 9

YELLOW PINE, ALABAMA

Frieda’s memories of Alabama

Yellow Pine, Washington Co., Alabama is where Theodore was born.  Uncle Ray told Cousin Bonnie that Grandpa bought land and a house, sight unseen, and when he got there it was on stilts and seasonally under water.  They also lived in a tent while there.  They lived in Alabama for only about six months.  Grandma killed a snake that was crawling under the tent by clubbing it to death.  Mom said that she really disliked Alabama as it was very hot!!  We can assume tent life for the Batke family as well!  Update:  Picture have recently been found that we are reasonably certain are from Yellow Pine showing their living conditions!  (Bonnie Link Fago).

Theodore Link in casket, 1922

It is here that little Theodore died under unusual circumstances, (by a parasitic worm), and is buried somewhere near Yellow Pine, Alabama.  Mom describes being told by her mother and being shown by lifting his diaper, how he died, (quite gross).  Grandpa made his casket, which by the picture, could have been a drawer.  Grandma decorated it with a cloth that her mother had embroidered, that she had brought from Russia, which looked to me like Hardanger embroidery.  It looks quite pretty, with its tassels around  the edge.  There is a picture of Theodore in his little casket, with the family around him. But she didn’t know who took it. 

It was here in Yellow Pine that Mom saw a black person for the first time.  They sang, and carried their clothes on their heads and sang and sang, but she was afraid of them.  The men had taken stumps out of the fields, and then they sat in the holes and sang! 

She most enjoyed getting up in the morning, and playing make believe, by going out and covering her "hens." She made nests in the ground, putting a bit of straw in the nest, and then put in little stones, and put a big stone on top.  That was her hen!  She would do this every morning to see if there were any chicks!
 

The Link children in Yellow Pine Alabama, 1922

She tells of not having shoes, and stepping on what she called "prickers."  They had such strong barbs on them, that you couldn't pull them out without a tool! 

Maria Link left, and Jacob Link with cap,
housing in Yellow Pine Alabama, 1922
Photo courtesy: Bonnie Fago

Some recruiters came to their area trying to find men to work in the factories of St. Joe, Michigan.  It was quite an industrial city at that time, and the country was gearing up for war!  So Grandpa and Mr. Batke made their way north  to St. Joe. by train to find jobs to make enough money to bring their families there.  The families were left behind.  Grandpa and Mr. Batke met up with the Lutheran minister of the Trinity Lutheran Church, Rev. Louis Nuechterlein.  He mentioned in his Sunday service that the families needed help.  A woman anonymously donated the train fare for the families to get to Michigan.  They never found out who this dear woman was! 

Mom and Grandma were walking along a path going into the village, (probably Yellow Pine), when a rider on horseback came along with a letter for Grandma, and it had money in it!  That was the first time Mom had seen her mother smile in a long time!  After all, when Grandpa left, she could not know how long he would be gone, or whether she would ever see him again!  How could she raise her children alone in a strange land?  These things had to have been heavy on her mind, causing her great worry!!

So Grandma, the children, Mrs. Batke and her family, including John Batke and Anna Batke (Mr. Batke’s brother and mother) according to the Immigration Border Crossing records of 1921, took the train on July 3, 1922 to Michigan.  They didn’t have any trunks or suitcases, so they wrapped everything in sheets or whatever they had.

The train kept getting switched from one end to the other, but they stayed on the train.  Mom told of getting locked in the bathroom, because she couldn’t open the door.  She screamed for her mother, but Grandma couldn’t hear her.  Finally a man opened the door for her!  She says that the kids really enjoyed the train ride!  There were five Batke children at that time, and the five Link children!

The Story of Jacob and Maria Link - Part 7 of 9

HEAVEN ON EARTH

Mom told my sister that the women and children started to get off at the wrong stop, but managed to get back on the train, and then did get off at their destination of St. Joe, Michigan!!  When they arrived, someone took them to a church and fed them bread and milk.  The Batke family stayed for a time, perhaps only weeks, in the parish house of Rev. Louis Nuechterlein.  The Links were given a place to stay on the St. Joe River front.  Both Grandpa and Mr. Batke had found work at Auto Specialties.   I conclude that Grandpa’s experience working at the Rempel Factory in Russia, may have been of help in his getting that job!
 

View toward the Link and Batke homes on Vine Street. Photo: c1970s

St. Joseph, Michigan must have seemed like “Heaven on earth to them”!  St. Joseph is a beautiful place!  They lived just below the “Bluff”, and about 2 blocks from Lake Michigan.  There was so much in a small area, such as the once famous “Silver Beach”, which was an amusement park with a wooden roller coaster, a merry-go-round, and the Shadow-land Ballroom, which is where our parents met!  It was also a port where big cruise ships docked, the St Joe River emptied into Lake Michigan,  factories, and beautiful shopping area, the park above the Bluff, and a pier and lighthouse!

My dad once pointed out a small house to me on the west side of Vine St. as being the first house that the family had lived in.  There was a bigger house in the yard where a family named Yetski lived.  They lived in the little house for quite some time.  Mom told of Grandma making a tree of paper roses (thought to be made of crepe paper) on stems, of all colors!  She was sent to buy the paper for the roses for Grandma.  The rose tree was used in place of a real Christmas tree one year, while in the little house.

They later moved to house next to 626 Vine St.  This is where the family spent their first real Christmas, with a real tree with candles, which  they could only light on Christmas Eve.

626 VINE ST.

They eventually moved to 626 Vine St. and this was their final move!  They were home!!  It took them ten long years, from 1912 to 1922, and so much hardship and suffering, and the loss of three children!!  Think of it – if they had not done this, none of would have ever had the privilege of living in this wonderful country! 

Auto-Specialties in upper left hand corner;
Whirlpool in forefront where Henry Batke also worked.  Photo: 1984.
Click on photo to enlarge.

Grandpa and Mr. Batke both became machinists (tool and die) for Auto-Specialties.  Grandpa worked there for nineteen years.   At some point, he was also a night-watchman for the Nylon Products Co. which made parts for refrigerators.  The name may have been changed, because I remember it as the Bendix Corp.  His hobby was woodworking, and he became an excellent cabinetmaker, having a woodworking shop beside his garage.  Our grandpa Jacob also played an instrument much like an accordion, but smaller with buttons instead of keys, by ear.  How we loved to hear him play!  Now I realize that it was probably Russian music!

Maria and Joseph Link, St. Joseph, Michigan, c1925

Grandma was an accomplished seamstress!  When I was a young girl, Mom told me about Grandma making her own patterns, and sewing for others.  But it got so she couldn’t see well enough to sew anymore.  Mom said that Grandma made all of her clothes, and I would guess that she also made the boys clothes.

The boys spent much of their time outdoors sledding and fishing!  By this time Grandma was beginning to be in poor health, so Mom often stayed inside to help her mother.  She did the laundry by hand and did the cooking!  She was 11 years old, or less!  It was Uncle Ray’s job to cut wood and keep the fires going!  They had big responsibilities for children so young!

She tells the story of she, and the boys cutting creosoted wood railroad ties, which are hard to saw!  They had a saw and a sawhorse and they would show off for the train engineers!  Uncle Fred would say, “come on Frieda”, and they would run and go cut the wood!  The engineers would yell, “don’t work too hard!”

They all attended the Trinity Lutheran School.  There was a teacher named Schleter who was quite mean or very strict!  She says, “we all had to go to a room to take German”! (Kids who spoke German had to study German!!!)  Everyone was segregated, girls on one side of the classroom, and the boys on the other side.  They were told to be quiet, but some boys made a noise and then Fred whispered.  She came running with a stick and hit him, and hit him, over and over on his back!!  Fred never cried out or said a word, until it was over, then he cried quietly.  The teacher didn’t last long!  She got in trouble that day and was soon gone!  Mom guesses that Grandpa may have complained to the school. 

At one time a tornado must have been very close to St. Joe, as the school got very black during broad daylight and children were very frightened with all the wind and rain.  Grandma met them at the school to get them home!

She tells of playing marbles after she had her work done, which she called, “Kimmies”, of having lots of friends, and a 9:00 curfew!  They often played “Hide and Seek and Run sheep, Run”!

She tells the story of she, and her friend Florence making fudge that didn’t harden.  They gave it to Jake, and he ate all of it, and didn’t even get sick!!

Raymond did a lot of fishing on the pier and brought the fish home to Mom.  She loved fish, so she cleaned and fried them!  She soon got to just fry them!!

She did go wading in Lake Michigan, but the boys learned to swim in the St. Joe River.  Their friends would just throw them into the river, and it was swim or drown!

The Story of Jacob and Maria Link - Part 8 of 9

GRANDMA

Grandma would often hemorrhage from the nose and mouth.  The doctor came to the house, but couldn’t do much for her.  He would plug her nose, but then she would bleed from the mouth.

The doctor was especially good to the children.  He would bring them food and take them to dinners at the Whitcomb Hotel.  He told them, “you can come just as you are,” then he would take them back home!  One of these dinners was also a Christmas Party.  Mom got a doll that she felt that she was “too old for”, but she kept it anyway!

Unfortunately, Grandma did not live to enjoy their new lives and prosperity, as she had had a series of strokes, which eventually took her life.  Mom says in the interview  by daughter Sharon, that Grandma had three strokes.

Her last stroke happened on the sloped path coming down the Bluff, going home.  She fell and couldn’t walk or speak at the time!  A girl they were acquainted with found her, and she managed to find someone to get Grandma home.  Her left side was paralyzed.  She must have eventually gotten some of her speech back, because she would ask “whose hand is this, whose arm is this”?

The teacher had to tell Mom and the boys to go home, that their mother was ill.  Grandma could only look at her children: she died two days later.  Bonnie told about Uncle Ray going in and sitting with his mother, (perhaps they all took turns doing that), he was 9 years old at the time.  The children were all there when she died.  She was 34 years old.  I can only wonder what must have been going through her mind at this time, concerning her young children!

L-R: Raymond, Jacob Jr., Jacob Sr., Willie, and Fred Link, 1942

But she need not have worried!!  She would have been very proud of her children and their many accomplishments!  They became such good, loving, Christian people, dedicated to their husband, and wives and families!  All became naturalized citizens, and all four of the boys served in WWII at the same time with a willingness to give their lives for their adopted country!!

According to her obituary in the St. Joseph Herald Press of January 14, 1929:  The Trinity Lutheran Church, “the largest house of worship in the city”, was filled for the funeral, and Mr. Henry Batke was a pallbearer!  There was a prayer service held at the home at 1:30 p.m. with the funeral held at 3 o’clock.  The minister was Rev. Louis Nuechterlein. 

Besides Grandpa and the five children, she left her mother, two sisters, and two brothers, all of whom resided in Germany, according to the obituary.  Grandma was born in Pawlowka, Russia.  When she left Russia, we can be sure that she never saw her mother, or siblings again!

As far as we know, Grandpa never saw his parents or sister again after leaving Russia, and never saw his brothers who stayed in Canada again either, to the best of our knowledge!

Our mother finished the eighth grade and then stayed home to care for her four younger brothers.  This was something she had few regrets over.  Yes, she would have liked more education, but her brothers were more important!  There was a special bond between sister and brothers!  She had actually become their substitute mother!  They always called her “Sis”!   

The Batke’s had become close neighbors of the Link’s on Vine St.  Their final home was 714 Vine and of course the Link’s was 626 Vine St.  The houses were all quite close with small yards, usually fenced in.

A REVELATION!

Katherine Batke and Frieda Link, St. Joe, Early 1920s

It was only after I had started to write the Story of Jacob and Marie, and listened to Mom’s interview again, and she mentions the names of the Batke girls, who were Mary and Katherine, that these are the girls who were her friends that we used to go visit!  I always thought that they were school friends, but I now know that they were far more than that!  These girls had been through it all, from their beginnings in Canada, and for Katherine, Russia, as she was born there!

I never knew of the connection, even though I certainly had heard the name Batke many times and knew they were neighbors of Grandpa’s.  I didn’t know they knew each other in Russia, nor the story behind their friendships until I started writing this, (the first time)!   I had listened to Mom’s interview before, but just didn’t make the connection.!  It wasn’t until I started finding pictures in Mom’s old albums with the name Batke on them that it suddenly began to make sense, after all these years!!

Mary became the wife of Arthur Engler and they lived down the block by the Depot at 600 Vine St.  I only knew her as Mary Engler!  They had a daughter named Elaine, and she and I played together (I remember the game of “Jacks”), while our mothers visited!!  To get to Mary’s house, mom and I would walk on the sandy dirt path along the fenced in yards, and not far from the railroad tracks.

Katherine’s husband’s name was Herman Fredrick, having recently learned that his parents were also a Homesteading family from Canada, originally from Russia!  Herman  Fredrick came into the United States through Portal, North Dakota by train on March 8, 1922 with a birthplace indicated as Trunstahl, Canada.  A whole other story!  I knew him as Katherine’s husband Herman, and that they had a son Don who I was sure had become a Lutheran Minister.  But I do remember that Jeannie and Katherine came to visit Mom and Dad when they were building a new house near Allegan!  Our mother actually got a brand new house!  Grandpa and Uncle Fred were there too, building cupboards for the new house!  Sharon was little and Mom was expecting Frank.  This would be about 1956. 

When Mom was well into her 80’s and her health was failing, Dad was quite urgent that we go see Mary and Art Engler, so we did one Sunday afternoon!  They had moved to an  apartment, but they were still in St. Joe!  That was Mom’s and Mary’s last visit together!  I still had no clue!  Everyone must have thought I just “knew”!

One day, I got a short letter from Mary’s daughter, Elaine, asking if my mother was still alive, that her mother was asking about Mom.  I felt so bad having to tell her that Mom had passed away on December 19, 2004.

A bit of a twist in this story has taken place recently.  I came across Elaine’s address and decided to contact her, so I wrote and included a “rough copy” of our family’s  story, which is now totally obsolete!!!  She called me on the evening of July 25, 2009!  I had not spoken to her for about 60? years!  She had to tell me that her mother, Mary, had passed away also, which I was sorry to hear of.

I learned from Elaine that a child was born to the Batke family while they were in Alabama in 1922, named Anna, and she resides in St. Joe, Mi!  Our Uncle Jake was best man at Anna’s wedding!  There were three more children born to the Batke’s in St. Joseph:  Henry Batke Jr. born in 1925.  He also served in WWII.  Then there were Edwin A. Batke, and Ruth Batke for a total of nine.

The Story of Jacob and Maria Link - Part 9 of 9

GRANDPA REMARRIES

Grandpa was a widower for thirteen years.  He married Grandma Ethel on March 26, 1938, in St. Joseph, Mi.  She was born in Veedersburg, Indiana on October 13, 1896. 

I never knew that she was not my real grandmother until I was about fourteen or fifteen years old.  I was so shocked to learn of this!  She was a wonderful grandma to me!  We lived in the house two doors down from Grandpa’s house until I was nearly four years old, and even at that young age, I have some memories of her there, and we often visited St. Joe after moving to Allegan. 

I will never forget the last time I saw her, I was told that, “Grandma wanted to see me.”  She was lying in bed.  I know now that she was saying good-by to me.  They only told me that she was “sick”.  She died of breast cancer a short time later on January 24, 1948.  I was 8 l/2 years old.

Grandpa married a third time to Clara Leek.  According to his death certificate, Grandpa passed away at the age of eighty-two, but he was actually 83, not quite 84.  He suffered for a long time with heart disease and emphysema, even having to have oxygen in the home.  I have recently learned that Mr. Batke also had emphysema, from his granddaughter Elaine.  We feel they were exposed to pollutants while working at Auto Specialties.

Mr. Batke died at his home at 714 Vine St. St. Joseph, Michigan on April 7^th, 1949.  Grandpa was a pallbearer for his funeral.

Grandpa Link died January 14, 1970, and Grandma Maria Link died in 1929.  All are buried in Riverview Cemetery, St. Joseph, Mi.  His death certificate says that he was born in 1888, and his headstone states 1886. 1886 is the correct year.  It also gives his birth date as 3-6/5-1888.  His birthday was actually on March 5, 1886.  Mom was born on his birthday, Mar. 5^th.

           

SUMMARY

It seems that this has become a story of two families that formed a lifelong friendship, experiencing so much together!!  The people of St. Joseph, Michigan were so good to the German Russians!  It was here that they found what they had fled Russia for – Freedom!  Freedom to live their lives without fear or repression!  They were certainly free in Canada, but they did not escape the poverty until they came to Michigan!  Could they have found this anywhere else?  They were given so much help by kind, loving people!  Perhaps there were others who were helped to settle in the area during the 20’s, despite the stigma attached to Germans before, during, and in some cases, after WWI!  More than likely, there are many stories yet to be discovered!

TIME FRAME

• Friedrich Link  B. May 1852, fled Steegan, W. Prussia for Russia
• Elizabeth Hopp, B. 1854,   married 1874
• Jacob Link   B. Mar. 5, 1886  Maria Phillips, B. Mar. 5, 1895
• Three Years in Russian Military
• Married on September 9, 1911
• Batke’s flee Russia June 25, 1912  Arrived in Canada
• Fredrich Link family flees Russia after August 9, 1912, or as soon as mother and baby could travel.
• Jacob and Maria Link flee Russia November 24, 1912
• Jacob and Maria depart Netherlands on the S.S. Ryndam, January 18, 1913
• Peter Link flees Russia actual date unknown, along with Maria Knack Link’s brother, sister-in-law, infant Elizabeth, and Maria’s sister, Catherina Knack.  They depart on the Barcelona, Bremen, Germany on March 15, 1913.
• The Russian Revolution
• Infant Maria born on ship, buried at sea.  Arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia January 27, 1913  (8 days to cross Atlantic) Boarded Canadian Pacific Rail Road  January 28, 1913 (next day) Destination Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada (Swift Current)  Stayed 6 years.
• WWI  1914 
• Six children born over six years.  First little Jacob found dead.  1919
• Border Crossing at Portal, North Dakota December 7, 1921
• Arrived in Yellow Pine, Alabama
• Deceived
• Theodore born, dies about 2 months later 1922
• Recruiters
• Grandpa and Mr. Batke make their way to St. Joseph, Mich
• Anonymous donor
• Train to St. Joe  July 3, 1922 (6 mos. Later)
• Grandma dies January 14, 1929  Age 34  (6 ½ yrs. in Michigan)
• Grandpa remarries to Ethel Steffy  March 26, 1938  (13 yrs. later)
• Mr. Batke died April 7, 1949
• Grandma Ethel dies January 24, 1948  Age 51  (10 yrs. later)
• Grandpa remarries a third time to Clara Leek
• Grandpa dies January 14, 1970  Age 83  (48 l/2 yrs after arriving in Michigan)

Ich been klein

My hearst ist kleen,

Da sol niemond drin bonen,

Jesus aline,

English Translation:

I am small,

My heart is clean,

No one should live in it, but

Jesus alone.

As given to us by our mother Frieda Link Byron   Easter April 12, 1998.

Note:

At this time, little has been learned about how the families got from their home, across Russia and up to the ports on the North Sea.  This still has to be explored.  One possibility has recently been found that was used in 1875, but of course things could have certainly changed by the year 1912!  Even at that time, because of new restrictions put out by the Russian Government, immigration to Canada and parts of the United States began.  Most of the immigrants from Chorititza and other South Russian colonies traveled down the Dneiper River by boat, to the Black Sea, across to Odessa, then overland by train to Hamburg, because shipping lines were not allowed to pick up travelers from Russian Ports. Five shipping lines transported the immigrants by different routes, depending on their destinations. Of course, this is only one possibility as other railroads must have been built by that time!

Our mother, Frieda said that little Maria was buried at sea, was buried in the Baltic Sea!  This seems unlikely, because they would have had to travel up and around Denmark!  But Sharon and I both remember that that is what she said! 

Since undertaking this project, I have learned that the story may never be finished! As more information comes in all the time, things are made clear that were once unclear, but I wanted to get what we do have down on paper now, realizing that the story of “Jacob and Maria” is not complete!

Special Note:

On June 25, 2010 the daughter of Henry and Katharine Batke, named Anna Batke Pesko, who was born in Yellow Pine, Alabama, their grandson Don Fredrick and his wife, and their great granddaughter Heidi Fredrick, granddaughters Jeannie Hartman, and Elaine Engler Bush,  along with myself, granddaughter of Jacob and Maria, all met for the first time, or for the first time in about 60 years to have lunch at the Depot at Silver Beach, in St Joseph, Michigan!!  Wouldn’t that be a surprise to our Grandparents!!!  
 

Daughter and Grandchildren of the immigrant Links and Batkes
near where the Link and Batke homes were located on Vine Street.
  Don Fredrick, Linda Pesko Van Hoedt, Anna Batke Pesko,
Darlene Byron Milbocker, Elaine Engler Bush
and Jeannie Fredrick Hartman, 2010

On August 20, 2010, four of us met again at the Depot.  There was Sharon Byron Lampros, Elaine Engler Bush, Anna Batke Pesko, and myself.   Sharon and I had a few questions for Anna, which she graciously answered.  She told us that she remembers our Grandmother, and that Grandma and Grandpa were her Godparents!   She also confirmed that our Uncle Jake did stand up at her wedding!   It was quite amazing to us to meet someone who actually knew our Grandmother!     And the friendship goes on!

Darlene Byron Milbocker 2010
Unless otherwise noted, photos courtesy of Dee Milbocker. Homestead maps/passenger lists courtesy of Elaine Beaudoin

Where is Yellow Pine, Alabama?

The Batkes and Links found themselves in Yellow Pine, Alabama in 1921.  In other posts in this Blog, their story of travel and housing are related.  But, just where is Yellow Pine, Alabama?  As you can see on this map it is located in Washington County about two miles from the Alabama-Mississippi border.  US Highway 45 goes through the small town.

See below for a look at Yellow Pine, Alabama through Google maps.  The image is interactive, so you should be able to "move around" and view the terrain.  Don Fredrick, please thank your son David for the Google Earth tip.


View Larger Map

Maria and Jacob Link Obituaries (1929 & 1970)

Maria Link is Taken by Death

Mrs. Maria Link, 34, mother of five children, died at noon today at her home, 622 Vine street.  She was the wife of Jacob Link, an employee of the Auto Specialties Manufacturing company.

Frieda Link, the oldest of the five children is ill. The other children are Frederick, William, Raymond and Jacob, Jr.

Besides her husband and children, Mrs. Link leaves her mother, two sisters and two brothers, all of whom reside in Germany.

Mrs. Link had been in ill health for some time, her condition becoming serious on Sunday.

She was a member of Trinity Lutheran church and services will be held from that church Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock after prayers at the home on Vine street at 1:30.  The Rev. Louis Nuechterlein will officiate.

Mr. and Mrs. Link moved to St. Joseph from Canada six years ago and had come to Canada from Russia in 1912.

Mrs. Link was born in Russia on May 19, 1894.

St. Joseph Herald Press, St. Joseph, MI, January 10, 1929, p. 4, col. 2.

Jacob Link Obituary

Jacob Link, 81, 626 Vine street, St. Joseph, died at 3 p.m. yesterday in the Shoreham Terrace nursing home.

Mr. Link was born June 5, 1888, in Russia.

His wife, the former Mary Phillips, preceded him in death in 1929.  On June 4, 1965, in St. Joseph, he was married to Clara Lee who survives.

Also surviving are a daughter, Mrs. Walter (Frieda) Byron of Allegan; four sons, Fred of Coloma, William of St. Joseph, Raymond of San Diego, Calif., and Jacob of South Bend; 11 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held Friday at 2 p.m. in the Trinity Lutheran church with the Rev. Albert Knoll, associate pastor of the church, officiating.

Burial will follow in Riverview cemetery.

Friends may call at the Kerlikowske and Starks funeral home.

The News Palladium, Benton Harbor, MI, January 15, 1970, p. 16, col. 6.

Note: Jacob and Maria Link were neighbors of the Batkes in Canada, traveled with them to Alabama and eventually to St. Joseph, Michigan where both families lived on Vine street.

Yellow Pine, Alabama - Housing

In 1921, the Links and the Batkes traveled from Canada to Alabama for a better life.  Background on this move can be read in the posting: "Why did the Batkes go to Yellow Pine, Alabama? 1921"

Recently (November 2, 2010), Dee Milbocker [granddaughter of Jacob and Maria Link] shared with Don Fredrick two photos believed to be from the time the Batkes and Links were in Yellow Pine, Alabama.   Dee notes that Sharon Byron Lampros, Bonnie Link Fago, Franklin Byron and she feel fairly certain about the identity of Jacob and Maria Link in the photo.  She states the woman in the picture has sloping shoulders just like her grandmother and mother.  The man is wearing a hat very much like the hat Jacob is wearing in another picture of Maria and Jacob taken in St. Joe, MI.  The source of the photos are from her Uncle Ray, son of Jacob and Maria, via Bonnie Link Fago, which adds additional rational to the "who and where" of the photos.

In the note to Don Fredrick, Dee asks the questions: "We wonder if the man in the center could be your grandfather [Henry Batke].  What do you think?  Any idea who the little boy sitting on the stump could be?"

Don Fredrick responded to Dee with the following note:

"The whole story, as far as it goes, impacts us directly, our generation.  But the effect, perhaps in a lesser way is important for the generation that follows ours.  Origins mean something!  Origins mean a great deal when we realize that our ancestors had to face all of this to migrate to America and what it meant already in the early part of the last century as a result of the kind of culture developed by those already here.  Our kids need to know.  Their families need to hear the story that is so importantly told by both of you and now potentially will be repeated on the Batke blog even though there may be some uncertainty about who the characters are in the pictures.  Your history makes these pictures especially meaningful to you and yes, even the Batkes.  Thanks to you Dee and Bonnie."
Don

Don Fredrick also noted "Grandma Fredrick [daughter of Henry and Katherine Batke] certainly alluded to but never did describe the housing they endured in Alabama before they came North to Michigan.

Photos courtesy: Bonnie Link Fago