Grandfather Reinhold Reich

Grandfather Reinhold Reich

Reinhold  Reich was born on November 16, 1883 in Elft, Bessarabia to Christian Reich age 37 and Maria Elizabeth Hirschkorn age 32.

The Reich family was among the German settlers who came to Bessarabia when the Germans were invited to settle their and establish farms with the aid of the Russian government.

His father Christian (My Great Grandfather) was born in Alt Elft, Bessarabia on February 16, 1846 to Samuel Reich (age 38) and Christine Jaess (age 20).  He  married Maria Elizabeth Hirschkorn and together they had seven children. After Maria's death he married Helene Kurz and had three more children.  He died in July 1892 in Alt Elft, Bessarabia.

Christian's father was Samuel Reich (My Second Great Grandfather) who was born in 1826 in Prussia to Gottlieb Reich (age 32) and Anna Maria Hamann (age 28).  He married Christian Jaess on November 4, 1843.  They had four children during their  marriage.

My Third Great Grandfather Gottlieb Reich was born on February 16, 1794 in Tornowa, Poland.  He married Anna Maria Hamann.  They had two sons and three daughters.  Anna Maria died in 1845 in Alt Elft, Bessarabia at the age of 47.  Gottlieb also died in Alt Elft (date unknown).

My Grandfather Reinhold Reich married Bertha Kison on December 14, 1911 in Ralston, Washington (near Ritzville, Washington).  They had three children, Alma Bertha (my mother), Elmer Reinhold, and Rose Marie.  Reinhold died at the age of 55 on September 18, 1939 in Spokane, Washington.

Reinhold left Eigenheim, Bessarabia and caught a ship named the S.S. Zeeland from Antwerp, Belgium at the age of 17.  It departed Antwerp on October 12, 1901, and arrived on Oct. 22 in New York.  His stated final destination was shown as Ritzville, Washington.

In a 1910 census document, he is shown as a boarder in Spokane, Ward 1.  His employment is shown as "Express Wagon".  I know that he owned a truck that he used in a moving business.  My brother Bob remembers the truck, but I was too young to remember that since he passed away when I was one year old.  In May 1917 he registered for the draft, and is shown as a Transfer Driver.  He had already married Bertha Kison on December 14, 1911.

He was Naturalized on February 20, 1919 while living at E. 1303 12th Avenue, Spokane, Washington.  He is described as White, Dark Complexion, 5 ft.5 inches tall, and 165 pounds.  Black hair, Grey Eyes.  That home is where I was born on January 14, 1938, where a doctor came to the house for the delivery.  The house still exists today.

Reinhold was interested in getting rich in the gold rush days, and acquired some gold mining equipment, and investing meager savings in gold stock.  None of this ever showed any success, and was a draw on the family resources.  His moving truck business was apparently not providing enough income to support the family.  Bertha supplemented the income by working in a restaurant (as a scullery maid), and later cleaned houses for those who could afford to pay for housekeepers.  The moving business was providing income until the large moving companies moved into the Spokane area, and he was basically forced out of the market for people who wanted moving services.

Out of his sense of failure and despair, he apparently took his own life by jumping off the Monroe Street bridge in Spokane.  His body was recovered from the river.  I have always had some suspicion that the employees of the large moving companies may have had something to do with his death, but that possibility was never pursued.