Raising his Family in West Prussia

Klopp Family Tree

Chart I – II

In 1905 Ferdinand married in the St. Mary’s Church of Thorn (today Polish Torun) his mother’s Polish maid. Her name was Rosalie Gronga (1877-1953). She was from Sampohl near Groß Konarcyzn, West Prussia. Her father owned a small farm and was at the same time at the service of the forestry department of Prussia. Ferdinand and Rosalie worked together a parcel of land similar in size and kind as mother Emma’s land in the vicinity.

Church in Elsenau (Olszanowo) – Photo Credit: wikipedia.org

Their daughters Margarethe and Charlotte were born there in 1906 and 1907 respectively. Then the family moved to Gostyn in the area south of Posen (today Polish Posnan), where they took over a dairy. Since Ferdinand had some expertise in the dairy business, he seized on an opportunity to get rid of the less profitable settler’s parcel at Elsenau.

Church of Gostyn near Posnan – Photo Credit: wikipedia.org

The establishment of hundreds of estate dairies is directly connected to the years, when the byproducts of the sugar refineries and distilleries were intensively reprocessed for feed in the burgeoning cattle industry. In addition to this innovation the use of artificial fertilizers and the production of bone meal for fertilizing the meadows resulted in increased milk production among the successful cattle ranchers. Daughter Gertrud was born here in 1908. At the same time brother-in-law August and sister Rosa lived in Gostyn. This is a definite indication that at least in part, family connections were the cause for the resettlement.

Typical Estate Manor around the Turn of the Century – Photo Credit: wikipedia