By Patricia Harris ,
President, DC Historical Society
JOHANN KRENN FAMILY SPINNING WHEEL FROM AUSTRIA GIFTED TO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
This week a pleasant-sounding gentleman called me from his home in New Castle, Virginia. He said that his name was Charles Barnes. We talked for a while, and I was impressed with his respect for history and his ability to recall dates, names, and places. He confirmed his respect for history when he told me that he was an active member of his local Historical Society in Virginia. He said he was born in Braxton County, West Virginia but had lived in Virginia for many years. I was surprised to learn that he was married to Marilyn Rastle, who was the great-great granddaughter of the well-known Johann and Maria Deubler Krenn family who were some of the first settlers of historic St. Clara Community.
Her and her sister Carolyn’s family owned the land where the Krenn School is located. The Doddridge County Board of Education purchased it in 1896 to build a school. Thus, the name of the one-room school (Krenn School). Many of you may know it as the St. Clara Community Building.
The school was built with local labor and materials in the spring and summer of 1897 on about one-fourth acre of land. There were 39.6 poles in the plot. According to the deed which is recorded in the Doddridge County Courthouse and dated December 22, 1896, the purchase price was twenty-five dollars.
The first term of school opened in the fall of 1897 and continued as a one-room elementary school until the spring of 1942 when the school closed due to low enrollment.
The Krenn School was listed on the National Registry of Historical Places in 1989. It is now the property of the Doddridge County Historical Society, who allows the community of St. Clara to continue to use the building for community purposes.
In 1990, the first Krenn School Reunion was held. Hazel Wysong was the president. Priscilla Schulte was secretary. The reunions continued for several years. Sadly, nearly all those wonderful people have passed to the great beyond and live today only in our memories.
Charles went on to say that sisters, Marilyn Rastle Barnes (his wife) and Carolyn Rastle Bass wanted to gift the Doddridge County Historical Society a precious Krenn family heirloom for the Doddridge County Museum and wanted to know if I could meet them at the museum this past Sunday afternoon. I quickly said absolutely, I could meet them there.
I called Tammy Beamer, my friend, and owner of the Herald Record to invite her to sit in on this visit because I knew that she and her husband, Bob, had known Mr. Barnes and his wife during Bob’s tour of duty in the Navy while stationed at Roanoke, Va. When she arrived at the museum, it was easy to see how much this couple respected Tammy and her family. They were both happy that she could visit with them.
When the small mobile spinning wheel came out of the trunk of their car, I was amazed. I had never seen one just like this one. It was so small and delicate. They explained that it was the small mobile spinning wheel that Johann and Maria Krenn had brought with them when they left Austria and traveled to Germany. Then, they disembarked on the passenger ship, Harburg, via the port at Hamburg, Germany. They arrived with their young family in New York, NY on September 30, 1852. Among their treasured belongings was this small mobile spinning wheel.
Let me give you a little history on the prominent Krenn family. Born on December 12, 1807, in Austria, Johann “John” Krenn (Marilyn’s and Carolyn’s great-great grandfather) was the son of Michael and Maria Laimer Krenn. He was a coal miner before coming to America and was listed as a farmer after coming to America.
Maria “Mary” Deubler Krenn (Marilyn’s and Carolyn’s great-great grandmother) was born in Goisern, Austria on December 7, 1811. She married Johann Krenn about 1830 in Austria. While living there, the couple blessed with he birth of daughter, Mary Theresa on January 15, 1832, when living in Deckendort, Neckaries, Austria. On November 1, 1836, son, Johann “John” Krenn II was born in Salzkammergut, Austria, followed by the birth of son Leopold Napoleon Krenn on October 25, 1838, after the family had moved to Germany.
Johann and Maria Krenn now rest in that eternal sleep at the St. Johannes Lutheran Church Cemetery, St. Clara, Doddridge County.
Joseph and Emily Albers Krenn (Marilyn’s and Carolyn’s great grandparents) owned one of the area’s finest mills and built a beautiful Austrian style home which he expanded in order to incorporate it into a working boarding house during the first oil and gas boom that hit the area. His daughters, Emma, Veronica, Cora, and Julia worked with the cooking and household chores during this time.
Mr. and Mrs. Barnes told us that they were fortunate enough to visit Goisern, Austria where the Krenn family originated multiple times and enjoyed learning about their proud prominent family. Charles, being a farmer, enjoyed the tours of European farmland as well.
We are so grateful for the precious treasure entrusted to the Historical Society and will give it the most utmost care required to preserve it for future generations.
Charles and Marilyn have agreed to coordinate with the D.C. Historical Society on the history of the Krenn family as well as the history of the St. Clara community to be included in our new book, ‘Photographic History of Doddridge County.’ We are grateful for their input and look forward to working with them.
If you should have the opportunity to visit our museum, I hope you’ll take a moment to look at the delicate detail involved in the making of this gem of a spinning wheel.
We thank both Marilyn and Carolyn so much for entrusting it to us. And until we meet Charles, his wife, Marilyn, and their daughter, Dawn again, may God bless them with a safe journey back home to New Castle, VA.
Worth noting:
“A people who have not the pride to record their history will not long have virtues to make history worth recording; and no people who are indifferent to their past need hope to make their future great.” By Virgil A. Lewis
God Bless.
By Patricia Richards Harris
Doddridge County Historical Society