Hermann, the oldest son, left home in October 1876 just before his 17th birthday and a year after his father died. His baby brother was a year old. Leaving Germany in order to avoid compulsary military training of the new German Reich (Germany had recently fought and won the Franco-Prussian War in 1870-71 and formed the German Reich in Versailles.), Hermann arrived on the S.S. Necar in New York and made his way to Havana, Illinois. When he arrived by train, he took the remaining 50 cents in his pocket and purchased some lovely red fruit he thought was apples. He took one bite and threw all the fruit away. He had purchased tomatoes!

With no special training or experience, he found work as a farm hand near Havana, Illinois. He attended the nearby country school as time allowed and began to learn the language of his new country. He followed his parents' example and attended a local Lutheran Church.
 

Hermann as a young man

Minnie Noding and Hermann Busch Wed in 1885.

Minnie's mother, Nadine von Roden had died in Germany, though they had all planned to emmigrate to the U.S. The story is told that Nadine's family opposed her marriage to Andreas because he was beneath their social and financial standing. Additionally, Nadine burned their family home so that they could collect insurance money to be able to afford to emmigrate. Minnie was born and confirmed in the parrish of Reiffenhausen in Lichtenhagen, East Prussia (later East Germany). View Minnie's birth certificate. View Minnie's Confirmation Certificate.

In any case, Andreas and his two daughters immigrated to Illinois in the U.S. Andreas later traveled west to Nebraska, became very ill and was nursed back to health by Indians (Lakota or Dakota). He married a woman from the tribe while in Hebron, Nebraska and they moved to Minnesota for a time, possibly because the Lutheran Church did not approve of the marriage nor Andreas' habit of working on Sundays. He eventually came to live with his daughter, Minnie, and son-in-law, Hermann when the family was farming near Hebron. After his death, he was buried in Belvidere, Nebraska, near where Minnie and family were living. He was not allowed; however, to be buried within the Lutheran Church's cemetary (though years later the cemetary expanded to include the ground around Andreas' grave). His wife then moved back to Minnesota. His grandson, Herman, remembered Andreas as a stern, grouchy old grandfather.

Professor Noding

Minnie Noding and her sister

A Career in Farming

Minnie taught daughter Lydia the fine art of baking as she developed a home business of baking cakes for weddings and other special events for neighbors. She did not use recipes and measurements were approximate ("butter equal to the size of a red hen's egg") and completed according to taste and "feel".

In Bruning, two more children were born: Herman, born November 10, 1893; and Edwin John Heinrich, born August 6, 1896. The children all attended a small neighborhood school nearby, though Lydia was not allowed to attend after eighth grade for her father believed girls did not belong in school.
 

Edwin, Louis, Lydia, Herman circa 1897

Louis, Lydia, Herman Minnie, Edwin, Hermann circa 1905

In 1910 they sold their farm and returned to Illinois. Hermann expressed disappointment at the changes he found in Havana, the town he had first come to in Illinois nearly 24 years earlier. There had been wetlands stretching out from the Illinois River with grasses so tall that when a horse and rider traveled through, Hermann remembered being able to see only the rider's hat above the tall prairie grass. Upon their return, many farms had been established close to the river and the fine hunting around the river was pushed further out.

Hermann's family lived for a year in Mason City. In 1911 Hermann and Minnie purchased another farm where they continued the success they had enjoyed in Bruning. Much of this farm is still owned by some of Hermann and Minnie's grandchildren.

It was here, a year later in 1912, that the five brothers reunited for the first time since they had come to the United States. It had been 36 years since Hermann's arrival (the first son) and 28 years since George's arrival (the last surviving son). By now, 3 of the brothers lived in the area: Hermann near Mason City, Will in Middletown, and George in Greenview. Garret came from New Jersey and Dick from Mountain Grove, Missouri.  Their older sister, Lizzie, was unable to attend. Among the brothers, there were 18 children, all unmarried, their ages ranged from 4 to 24.

Meanwhile, in Europe, the newly united Germany had come up against the older colonial empires of Britain, France and Belgium as they were trying to expand their new Reich.  World War I was just around the corner. Hermann and his siblings would soon see their new country drawn into a war with their homeland.
 

Retirement and Life Changes

In 1918, a year before World War I ended, 59 year old Hermann and 55 year old Minnie retired from farming and moved into Mason City. During their years on the Mason City, Illinois, farm, all four of their children  married and their first four grandchildren were born. The year they retired, their fifth grandchild was born.

The following year, their sixth grandchild was born; then, in August Minnie suffered from gall bladder problems and agreed to surgery.  She died while on the operating table while in St. Francis Hospital, Peoria, Illinois. Hermann and Minnie had been married 33 years. As the year drew to a close, so did World War I.
 

In 1920, another grandchild was born as Hermann prepared to go to Germany for his first return visit with relatives and old friends.  He returned home that Fall upset about the living conditions of his friends and family and the unrest and internal strife going on in Germany. Upon returning to Mason City, he said he was very glad he had moved to the United States and believed evil times were ahead for the family and friends he again left behind. Hermann was quite right, for by the end of 1923, the spiraling inflation in post war Germany had effectively dropped the value of the German mark to one-trillionth of its prewar value. The amount of money needed to buy just a loaf of bread took up more space than the bread in a bag. The lines for purchasing were endless. He returned home that Fall upset about the living conditions of his friends and family and the unrest and internal strife going on in Germany. Upon returning to Mason City, he said he was very glad he had moved to the United States and believed evil times were ahead for the family and friends he again left behind.

Hermann was quite right, for by the end of 1923, the spiraling inflation in post war Germany had effectively dropped the value of the German mark to one-trillionth of its prewar value. The amount of money needed to buy just a loaf of bread took up more space than the bread in a bag. The lines for purchasing were endless.
 

Hermann (far left) gathers with family and friends in 1924

Edwin, Lydia, Hermann, Herman in 1910

 

Hermann, Louis, Lydia, Herman, Edwin

After Hermann returned from Germany, he married Emma Kraft Tegedes, a widow living in Havana, Illinois. Hermann was 62 and Emma was 49. After their marriage, they resided at Hermann's home at 110 S Morgan Street, Mason City, Illinois.  From there, Hermann enjoyed walking downtown to visit with his friends each day.

Hermann wed  Emma Tegedes

Hermann and Emma and grandkids around 1924

During the 1920s, 4 more grandchildren were born into Hermann's immediate family and his expanded family began getting together every summer for a family reunion.
 

Hermann with his grandchildren about 1928

1939 Hermann's family gathered for this picture on Alvin and Lydia Trimpe's farm.

A month before Hermann's 80th birthday in September 1939, Germany invaded Poland. Late that Fall, his family and friends gathered for a surprise birthday party. By now, 5 of his grandchildren had married and 2 great grandchildren had beeen born . Before long, he and his brothers saw again their country go to war against their homeland. This time some of their grandchildren had to join the fight.
 

Emma and Hermann around 1940

Within 2 years, while the world was still consumed with the war in Europe, 68 year old Emma, his second wife of  20 years, died on July 16, 1941. Five months later Japan would attack Pearl Harbor. After Emma's death, Hermann moved into his son and daughter-in-law's home (Edwin and Lucille) for the remaining 4 years of his life. Hermann had "heart problems" that caused him to have to stop driving only weeks before his death on October 4, 1945.

He had lived to see Germany's unconditional surrender, for the second time in his life. He saw Japan surrender that September. World War II had ended and his grandchildren began to come home. During these years, his children had lived nearby and raised his grandchildren near him. He had been able to enjoy some of his great grandchildren. He liked to say that his family was a great source of joy and pride to him.
 

Margaret & Arnold Crater, Louise Hahn, Louis Busch;  Hermann, Julia Bluhm, ?, Harry Bluhm, Richard Trimpe, Ruth (Herman) Busch, Emma, Wilma Busch;  Lydia (Alvin) Trimpe with Eugene Trimpe, Edwin & Lucile Busch, Marjorie Trimpe, Ed Busch, ?, Herman Busch

1942 Hermann's grandchildren and their mates.

 

Hermann's granddaughters in 1945 Eileen Bohannon w/Priscilla; Louise Hahn w/Emily and Carol; Eugene Trimpe; Julia Bluhm w/Juliana; Marjorie Phelps w/Diane

Marjorie Phelps w/Diane; Lucille Trimpe w/Eugene; Margaret Crater w/Marilyn; Carmen Busch w/Nancy; ? w/?; Eileen Bohannon w/Priscilla

His funeral was held Sunday, October 7, 1945, and he was buried in the Mason City Cemetary. In 6 weeks, Hermann would have been 86.

Main Page. Louis Busch  . Lydia Catherine Matilda Busch (Trimpe)  .  Herman Busch  .  Edwin John Heinrich Busch   .
Hermann's grandchildren:  Louis's: Margaret. Louise. Eileen. Louis, Jr. .  Lydia's: Richard. Marjorie.  Herman's: Julia. Kenneth. Wilma. Robert  .   Edwin's: Edwin

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