It Takes a Matriarch
780 Family Letters from 1852 to 1888 Including Civil War, Farming in Illinois, Life in St. Louis, Life in Sacramento, Life in the Theater, Wagon Making in Davenport, and the Lost Family Fortune
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It Takes A Matriarch
Introduction
MATRIARCH (According to Webster): “A matriarch, a clan-mother or chief is an autocratic female ruler of a human family, clan, or kinship, or of an animal grouping. The matriarch is usually the oldest female in an extended family. Her authority over the others, as well as their trust in her, often stems from her knowledge and life skills, especially in the acquisition and distribution of food.”
For the purposes of this book, let’s soften “autocratic” to include “leads by respect, compassion, and example.” Motherhood is implied and perhaps preferred, but not mandatory. The definition of matriarch can be summarized as three f’s – female, fair, firm and three c’s – concerned, compassionate, and capable. Matriarchs which come to mind per this expanded definition include: President Ellen Sirleaf of Liberia, Rose Kennedy, Barbara Bush, Oprah Winfrey, Mother Theresa, Sacajawea, Clara Barton, and Sarah Bush Lincoln.
The Matriarch is Margaret Basler
She is the oldest daughter in the Basler Family summarized below. She is the one who saved 780 letters written to her or her son/neighbor Frank Reiss between 1852 and 1888 by seven siblings, their spouses, four children, their spouses, six grandchildren, and two friends. There are 32 letters were written by a brother, a son, and a son-in-law while they were away fighting in the Civil War or hospitalized recovering from wounds. The letters involve three generations of relatives and friends living in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, Kentucky, Missouri, and California. All but 95 of the letters were written in “old” German and had to be translated. The most prolific author with 38% of all letters is Margaret’s daughter Kate Reiss Wittig and her family in Davenport, Iowa. Margaret’s personality and how she is regarded by others comes through as one reads these letters and appreciates the harsh physical and economic conditions of those times.
We have only 22 letters which were written by Margaret and those were to her son Frank while she was visiting her daughter Kate in Davenport, Iowa or her son Charles in O’Fallon, Illinois. The remaining 758 letters represent only one side of thousands of long-distance conversations Margaret had with 12 other author families. You will simply have to imagine what Margaret said and how she said it in the numerous letters she wrote to family and friends.
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About the Book
It Takes A Matriarch is the second of four books about the extended Reiss and Basler families who settled on a small farm in St. Clair County, Illinois in 1834 and 1839, respectively. It includes 780 letters saved by first generation Margaret Basler Reiss Ebert from 1852 to 1888. Some letters were phonetic English but most had to be translated from “old” German. Authors were Margaret’s siblings, their spouses, her children, their spouses, her grandchildren, and two friends. They mention serving in the Civil War, personal challenges, life in
Quilter, Granger, Grandma, Matriarch was the first of these four books. It is the daily diary of third generation Katie Reiss covering 1949 through 1953. It was published first to give the reader a feel for life on the Reiss Family Farm in the German heritage of southern
The Reiss Dairy will be the third book. It is a history of the Reiss Dairy in
Family, Farming, and Freedom will be the fourth book. It is 55 years of professional and personal writings by fourth generation Irv Reiss from 1949 to 2004. His favorite subjects were family fun and travel, restoring strip mined coal lands to productive farming, and promoting individual freedoms and responsibilities. He was my dad.
About the Author
About the Author: Stephen W. Reiss was born in