History

The history of my family name and as well as where my family members have been and how they ended up in the southeast corner of Nebraska has a unique story of its own that involves crossing many borders. My last name is Stahl which is from German decent, and my dads grandparents came to America from Germany. I’m not quite sure why they chose Nebraska but I am assuming they did for the farmland and the fact that there wasn’t a lot of people around. This an obvious example of my ancestors crossing borders to have a better life in America. My grandma on my dads side has a unique story. She was born in Iowa to a man and woman she would never meet again because she was given up for adoption. Her future parents picked her out from the rest because she stood out to them and then they took her back to Johnson, Nebraska. I thought this was interesting because my grandma was crossing borders of families and states before she could even realize what was going on. My grandpa on my dads side also has an example of borders and boundaries because he fought in the Korean War. Although he never really talked about it and passed away when I was only around 8, I have still seen pictures and heard of how rough the Korean War was. It’s hard to talk about war when I have never personally been but I imagine it was very difficult to go to a different country and try and survive during a war. 

My moms side of the family has also crossed borders to end up where we are all at today. She was the third oldest out of 5 children and she was born in Corning, Kansas. Soon after she was born though, they moved to Texas because her dad switched jobs which was the cause of all of their moves. After a couple years in Texas and two more births, her dad received a job in Johnson, Nebraska working at the local grain elevator. This long and complicated journey again shows how my family crossed multiple borders to end up in “The Middle of Everywhere” Nebraska. I Personally have barely traveled in my life so I am not so familiar with crossing borders into different territories. However when I went to the places I actually have traveled to, such as Washington D.C. and Chicago, I felt out of my element and a little culture shocked by all of the big buildings and busy streets. I can also see this happening as I moved from a small farm town into a big city such as Lincoln for college. Lincoln isn’t as big or as intimidating and I have been familiar with it for awhile so I think I will be able to manage it for awhile. 

Included is a picture of a soldier from the Korean War which my grandpa fought in:

Background

Growing up I believe that I was very blessed when it came to family. My family is from Johnson, Nebraska which is in the southeast corner of the state and about an hour from lincoln. My mom works at the school in town while my dad farms and my sister works here in Lincoln. However, my “family” extends much further from just that. On my moms side, I have 5 uncles, 5 aunts, and 12 cousins. My moms side of the family is very close as we always gather for holidays at my grandmas house in Johnson. One thing that I would consider a boundary or border is that other than my immediate family, all of my other aunts and uncles from my moms side chose to move away to different parts of the state. I think of this as a boundary or border because I cant just go and visit my cousins or vice versa because it takes a lot of time and planning to make it all happen. For example my closest cousin Mark is from Humphrey and I love to spend time and hangout with him but unfortunately Humphrey, Nebraska is 3 hours away from where I live. Looking at it from a different angle though, maybe the fact that my relatives are so far away is what makes each gathering and reunion so special and great. 

On my dads side, however, is a different story. There isn’t as many borders because my dad only had one brother who never married so I have no aunts or cousins on my dads side. My dad and uncle have both lived in the same area for all of their life and have done the same thing as well which is farm. They learned all of their techniques from my Grandpa who was also a farmer. I believe growing up on the farm was the greatest gift I received because I think it taught me many lessons on hard work and dedication and how they pay off in the long run. The only boundary that might separate me from farming is that with all of the technology and equipment in todays world there was no way for me to join in on the family farm and make a career out of it. My dad and uncle can manage the whole farm and get things done on time with all of the new equipment, which this is much different from back in the day when the sons were expected to stay home and help on the farm. 

Included is a picture from main street from my hometown of Johnson, NE.