Clara Mulder, my great-grandmother, passed away on 6 September 1953, as I mentioned on Discovering My Great-Grandmother. I posted her obituary on My Great-Grandmother’s Lifetime of Service.
Two and a half months after her death, the family gathered together for Thanksgiving at the home of her oldest child, Dorothy (Dorothea Rosa) Mulder Plott, and Dorothy’s husband, Conrad Plott. As of the 1940 census, they lived at 148 North Union Street in Battle Creek, Michigan. But my mother believes that they then moved to their farm in Pennfield Township and that this gathering took place in the farmhouse.
In these recently discovered photos (from an album my mother put together), the family can be seen gathered together at the Thanksgiving feast.
The bottom photo lists “Grandpa,” and that is Clara’s widower, my great-grandfather, Charles Mulder. “Mother” and “Dad” are my grandparents, Adrian and Edna (Mulder) Zuidweg. In the top photo, the man on the left, “Uncle Pete,” is Clara’s #4 (of 5) child, Peter Mulder.
In the top photo, “Mother,” “Aunt Dot,” “Uncle Chuck,” and “Vena” are Clara’s other 4 children (besides Pete). Dorothy, Edna, Vena, Pete, and Chuck, in order of birth.
Aunt Ruby was married to Uncle Pete. Most of the others are my mother’s brother and cousins. You saw them as children in Discovering My Great-Grandmother.
The Family Kalamazoo 
That’s quite a crowd!
I know! You need a big table for all of them!
How wonderful to have these photos! Too bad they were all so intent on looking at what was on their plates instead of the camera. At first I thought they were staring at their phones! I guess the food was that good (or that bad?). 🙂
LOL, staring at their phones! makes me long for the days when nobody had a phone at their side. I am betting that the food was that good!
Well, they sure were watching their plates very carefully lest someone take their food!
My mother is falling into her plate. Gee, she must have been married the previous June to my father (she was only 18 when she married). Maybe he didn’t feed her at home hahaha.
LOL!
Your family amazes me! My mum was an only child, and I had only one sister. There were relatives out of town, but we could have had a family reunion in a phone booth and had space for an extra chair. Ten people was about the limit.
Aw, a phone booth would be pretty small ;)! I think they were blessed that so many lived in the area. That is no longer true. I have been away from “home” now for 28 years!
How wonderful to have these photo’s! What a wonderful Thanksgiving feast. I think I have asked this before; is the farmhouse still standing and have you gone to it?
I don’t know if it is. This is actually a different farmhouse in a different county than the one that I’ve posted about before. That one was my great-grandparents’ in Caledonia in Kent County. Pennfield is in Calhoun County. Not that those Michigan counties are more than a blur to you, but thought I would make it clear here ;). My great-grandparents’ property is hard to find on Google because the road does some strange things. My cousin knows what street it was on, but I can’t really pinpoint the exact place. We think there are McMansions in that area now. Not sure about this house. I wish we had the 1950 census reports for addresses ;).
I love photos of family gatherings, not only does it give a sense of an occasion, but shows how people were when together. And there’s the historic element of seeing what was on the table – decor, plates, etc. Looks like your family knew how to enjoy themselves (I’d bet they still do!) 🙂
You have captured my thoughts exactly! That is why old snapshots are so appealing!
I enjoyed how you wove your story and included the pictures and links to additional stories. As always, I enjoyed reading your family tale.
Ah, thanks so much, Ann Marie! I love how blogs are a little interactive in that way–allowing for links, photos, videos, etc.!
It’s fun to see the old pictures with the family all gathered around the table. It seems like people seldom have meals like this anymore.
It’s so true. More often, people seem to see each other in “bits and pieces” instead of one large group.
Dinner for 30 people???
I believe so!
[…] Here is the whole family at their farmhouse on Thanksgiving, November 1952. All Grandma’s siblings and their families attended, as well as her parents. This was the last holiday season her mother was still alive. The next year they would hold Thanksgiving at Dot and Con’s house. Photos here. […]