As the year draws to a
close in the life and times of Thomas G. Moses during 1919, there is one more
event I need to mention. My grandparents, John H. Kohnen and Elvina Dressel
were married that year. After meeting at a country dance, they became engaged
to be married. However, before they began their wedded life together, my grandfather
fought overseas in WWI and my grandmother survived the Spanish Flu. I never knew
either grandparent well, as my grandmother passed when I was 1 year old and my
grandfather passed when I was seven years old. They were older than most when
they married, with my mother coming along fourteen years after that. It was the
same case with my father’s family; both he and my mother were the last of three
children, the babies born 15 and 14 year after their eldest siblings. It has
been my mother’s stories that have kept my grandparents alive for me. Attached
is their wedding picture from 1919.
The wedding of John H. Kohnen and Elvina Dressel, 1919.
To be continued…
Author: waszut_barrett@me.com
Wendy Rae Waszut-Barrett, PhD, is an author, artist, and historian, specializing in painted settings for opera houses, vaudeville theaters, social halls, cinemas, and other entertainment venues. For over thirty years, her passion has remained the preservation of theatrical heritage, restoration of historic backdrops, and the training of scenic artists in lost painting techniques. In addition to evaluating, restoring, and replicating historic scenes, Waszut-Barrett also writes about forgotten scenic art techniques and theatre manufacturers. Recent publications include the The Santa Fe Scottish Rite Temple: Freemasonry, Architecture and Theatre (Museum of New Mexico Press, 2018), as well as articles for Theatre Historical Society of America’s Marquee, InitiativeTheatre Museum Berlin’s Die Vierte Wand, and various Masonic publications such as Scottish Rite Journal, Heredom and Plumbline. Dr. Waszut-Barrett is the founder and president of Historic Stage Services, LLC, a company specializing in historic stages and how to make them work for today’s needs. Although her primary focus remains on the past, she continues to work as a contemporary scene designer for theatre and opera.
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