How the Albrecht Family Ties Montgomery Together

It’s hard to know where to begin telling the Albrecht story. This family typifies the best in our early Montgomery families. The unity among the various branches of this family is a tribute to the values handed down through the generations.

The  founder, Gus Albrecht, came to the USA when he was 16. He fled Germany to avoid the draft, accompanied by his sister. They first came to Watertown, Wisconsin, where they had relatives. 

Information about Gus Albrecht, comes mainly from his grandson, Bob Barclay. Mr. Barclay, as well as being a nephew of Gus Albright of Montgomery, was a writer for the Aurora Beacon News. He wrote articles and other publications dealing with historical topics for many years before his death in 1989. His correspondence has helped sort out the confusion of so many similar names.

The immigrant ancestor, Gus Albrecht, came from an area of Germany known as the Black Forest. He told of being apprenticed to a wheelwright to learn that trade. He hated it so much that when he got a sore on his leg, he let it go as long as he could to avoid work. Whenever it showed signs of healing, he would rub on salt from the family’s kitchen to make it worse.

The wheelwright was so disgusted with him that he sent him back home to his parents. Next they bound him out to a tailor. This was a better fit for Gus. This was the trade he pursued for the rest of his life.

Coming to Chicago, he married Elizabeth Boitz. The Boitz family had lost everything in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. His wife treasured the few melted and scorched items that had been saved from the fire.  

Of the nine children born to Gus and Elisabeth, only their daughter Clara (Barclay) and sons Gus, William, Henry and Frank had children. The others either died young or did not have children.

William married Freda Tschannen, who was born in Switzerland, merging two prominent Montgomery families. Their children were Albert, George, Wilma, Raymond, John, Frank and Paul Albrecht. This branch of the family retained the original spelling of Albrecht.

Frank Albrecht (Albright) had two children, Jerome and Arliss.

Henry Albrecht (Albright) was a sheep shearer and truck gardener who lived in the family home where he grew up at Sherman and Lincoln Avenues in Montgomery. His children were Gladys, Dorothy, Robert and Henry. Henry won the World’s Sheep Shearing Contest at the International Amphitheater in Chicago in December of 1941. 

Gus Albright married Grace Thielman, and like his father, also had nine children.  He was also a sheep shearer at the CB&Q sheep yards in Montgomery. Several generations of young men followed in their grandfather’s footsteps working there. Beside sons Clarence, Earl and John, he had daughters Bessie, Sadie, Ethel, Ruth, Elizabeth, and Marion. The girls married men named Sartor, Neupert, Sampson, Rogers, and Mason.

Their big family home is still standing on Route 25, a few doors north of Sherman Avenue in Montgomery.        

Montgomery School was once filled with children with these surnames. At times, there would be several cousins in the same classroom. They monitored and reported any misbehavior at the dinner tables that evening. It’s a safe bet that the six mothers were a team when it came to keeping a child in line. And, in spite of the little spies, school was a safe, comfortable place for these children. 

It was not surprising that the most handsome boy and the most popular girl in the same grade would turn out to be first cousins, much to the dismay of both. 

A Sunday visit with friends and relatives was the main source of entertainment in the days before T.V. and sports broadcasts. Children played together outdoors, or simply went for a walk, while their parents caught up on the latest news. A mother always tried to have some refreshments on hand for drop-in company.

Bob Barclay told about having Sunday dinner with his cousins in Montgomery when the Fox River Park was operating. His uncle Gus owned and operated the paddleboat at the park. It had an automobile engine at the back that ran the paddle, and was steered from the back, and had a canopy on top. It was one of the most popular attractions at the park.

On warm summer days, the cousins would all walk down Route 25, across the Mill Street Bridge and head down River Street to the park where Uncle Gus would be there to take them for a ride. They were bonding and building lifetime memories before anybody ever heard the terms "bonding" or "family ties."

The archives, located in the new village hall, is seeking more information on early families and welcomes donations of photos, documents, family memoirs, copies of old letters and postcards, partial or completed genealogies, anything that can add to the story of Montgomery. Debbie Buchanan is the village liaison to the Historical Preservation Committee. Originals can be copied and returned.