Grandma Sprick's smile

You can easily spot Grandma Sprick in this family photo because of her Mona Lisa smile. That's her at upper right. Also in the photo are her immigrant German-American parents, Hinrich (also called Heinrich) and Anna Augustin, and her brother, Henry Jr., and sisters Anna (who would later marry into the Leonhardt family) and Emma (who would outlive three husbands named Stegemeyer, Klindworth and I forget the last one). If they look a little melancholy, it could be because they had just endured a diptheria epidemic that killed little Johann (John) Augustin. Makes all those trips to the doctor to get the kids vaccinated seem well worthwhile, eh? Some of you have asked why Grandma's maiden name appears variously as Augustin or Augustine. Uncle Joe tells me that the "e" was added when Uncle Henry Augustin received a document with his name misspelled and was told it would cost $40 to change. $40 was a fortune in those days, and so the family went with the name change. That's why our German cousin Britta's last name is spelled the original way, Augustin.

Below is the obituary/biography of Grandma's brother, Henry Augustine, the boy in the family photo above. He was born on Nov. 11, 1896 and died at age 90 on Jan. 31, 1987.