CHARLES C. WELSCH

    Charles C. Welsch, one of 3 boys and 7 girls, was born in Tusclovis, Ohio, on January 29,1861 to German immigrants Frederick and Elizabeth Welsch. When he was five the family moved to Muscatine, Iowa. Here he married Minnie Lampe. To them were born Gertrude (1890) Ruth (1891) and Harry C. (1895). The family moved to a farm southeast of Grant, Iowa, then to a farm a mile west of Elliott. Charles C. had bought this farm from the United States in 1891. He cut corn out of a cornfield to build himself a home and outbuildings. The house is still occupied by members of the family. Ruth is the only surviving child of Charles C. Welsch. Gertrude (Sundquist) died of burns in Idaho in 1916. Minnie died in 1919, Charles C. in 1949, and Harry C. in 1951. All are buried in Hillside Cemetery at Elliott. “Grandpa” (Charles) was known far and wide for his stories and people using his tall tales have won prizes from ice cream to shoes to a new car.

    In 1913 Ruth married Fred Ellis. To them were born Clem G. (1913) of Lemon Grove, Calif.; Myrle Sauerman of Des Moines (1918). Clem has two children, Edward Jay and Barbara and two grandchildren. Myrle has one daughter, Sherri. Fred died in 1961 and is buried at Hillside Cemetery, Elliott.

In 1916 Harry C. Welsch married Edna C. Hand who was born May 26, 1897 near New London, Iowa. Their children were Charles Franklin born March 19, 1922; Margaret Jean born December 18, 1923, and Frederick Dean born August 30, 1925.

    Charles served in the U. S. Navy during World War II. He was in New Guinea and the Philippines from 1943-1946. On December 28, 1946 he married Betty Marie Braden (born March 29, 1923) in Elliott. In 1951 they moved to the Welsch farm where Charles still farms. They have one daughter Candace (Mrs. John Tischer) and a grandson, Christopher John Tischer.

    May 1947 Margaret Jean married Max Lee Miller (b. May 16, 1924). They live on the Miller farm in Pottawattamie County. They are parents of Marla (Mrs. Douglas Turner) and twin sons who died shortly after birth. They have four grandchildren: Michelle, Barbara, Dawn and Mark Turner.

    In October 1945 Frederick married Lorraine Whittaker (b. March 17, 1929) of Griswold. They now live in Red Oak where he is a barber. They are parents of Elise (Mrs. Gary Erickson), James, Fred, Malia and Tricia. They have two grandchildren: Matthew Erickson and Danika Welsch.

    Charles and Frederick are well-known in the area as baseball players. Betty, Margaret and Candace are teachers in the Elliott vicinity presently employed in the Griswold Community System.