Irish Men are Considered the Sexiest in the World

In a recent poll by MissTravels, they have claimed that Irish men are #1 in the best looking department. To be honest, I find all men handsome from no matter where they are from. I really don't have a big preference of nationality, however, there are certain looks that I find attractive in each person of each race. I guess I just have a gold standard in my head.

This kind of survey piqued my curiosity on what some of us find attractive in the opposite sex (or same sex, however you look at it). Some of my friends find certain men attractive that I find mildly attractive.

However, one pattern I noticed recently is how much I have in common with who my mom and Grandma find attractive. My Grandma has always thought Andy Williams, Glen Campbell, Tyrone Power and several others very attractive. My mother also has loved these men very much, especially Andy Williams, whom she saw in concert when she was younger.

And then there is me. I also find these men attractive. Even my Grandma has always said how handsome her own father was. My mother and I also thought he was a handsome man. However, he was 100% German (maybe a bit Dutch, too, but I haven't confirmed that yet. ) Unfortunately, German men did not make the list, even though one very highly attractive Irish-German, Michael Fassbender, is half German/half Irish should give the German's some credit.

I am often wondering if certain genetic traits cause us to be attracted to someone of similar height, weight, facial features, etc as our ancestors found attractive many generations ago. What is the cause for us to feel an attraction to a certain person's looks that others may not find attractive? This seems like an age old question which I am sure their are multiple reasons behind it.

Another fascinating (and more far out) thought is maybe we could be attracted to some people based on a previous life we lived. Maybe we crossed paths but never cemented our love. Maybe one of us died too early. Or maybe it was ill-fated and was not meant to last in that particular lifetime. I often have felt meeting certain people, like a soul mate, can often feel preordained. - as if you have met in a previous lifetime and something about them feels very familiar, but you cannot pin point it. These far out reasons could also predetermine who we find attractive and who we do not, as well.

What are your thoughts on certain nationalities being more attractive than others? Should there really a debate about it?

I say, we love who we love. Looks and attractiveness are never going to equate how you get along on a personal level. If they have the full package, then you are very lucky, indeed, but love is love and looks will fade over time, so love someone for what they can offer, and not the superficial aspects of who they are.

Sunday's Obituary - Charles (Karl) Roehm

I have an actual obituary for Charles Roehm (my Great, Great Grandfather), however, I cannot locate the digital version of it at the moment. Instead, I will post it at a later time, but here is a biography about him, which was published about 20 years after his death. It was written in the "Ashley 1938 Jubilee." 

These Jubilees were often published during certain anniversaries that towns celebrated after their incorporation. Most that I have seen are for 50, 75 and 100 years. They are like yearbooks for towns that are celebrating their existence and the history and people that made the town what it is today. It's a lot of fun to read through them. I am sure it was lots of work to make them, as they are chock full of very personal accounts and biographies; they are also full of facts, photos, school photos and advertisements. They truly are a treasure. For any town that produced even just one or two over the 100+ year existence of their town, is sure to leave a lasting record for future generations.

"Not the good that comes to us, but the good that comes to the world through us is the measure of our success." Judging the life of Charles Roehm from this standard, his was a most successful one. He was loved, honored and respected by all who knew him. Never did he seek that prominence which in a large measure brings the individual before the public eye. His neighborhood was the scene of his activities. There his kindly generous spirit was continually extending out with a full measure of sincere helpfulness toward all. Without invidious distinction it may well be said that no man in McIntosh county was better loved than Charles Roehm.

Charles Roehm was born at Zetel in the Grand Duchy at Oldenburg, Germany, November 1, 1852. He acquired his education in the graded schools of Germany. Here he grew to manhood doing blacksmith work in the ship yards for a livelihood. He left his native land and came to America in 1880 and located at Parkers Prairie, Minnesota, where he and his brother George became co-partners in the blacksmith trade. In 1882 he married Miss Rebecca Stegemann of Parkers Prairie, Minn. She was of German ancestry having came to America with her parents at the age of fifteen. They remained at Parkers Prairie until April, 1886, when they packed their meager belongings and family, then consisting of two small children, namely John and Anna, into an ox-cart, and started far the west with Bismarck as their destination. After three long months of plodding along over roadless prairies their team of oxen became exhausted and with only $1.50 cash left, they were forced to cease their journey, having reached what is now the present Doyle State Park. They had traveled approximately four hundred miles. There they remained and filed on that homestead. Their first form of shelter consisted of a dugout on the south side of a hill with a sod front. Later a sod house was erected. For a living buffalo bones were gathered and hauled by oxen to Ellendale, that being their nearest town or trading post. As soon as finances would permit Charles Roehm opened the first blacksmith shop in McIntosh County, serving the sparsely settled farmers and cattlemen in a radius of twenty-five miles.

Charles Roehm differed from most of the early settlers in that he did not engage in farming and his spirit was deeply grieved in seeing countless acres of rolling prairie turned into sod. He advocated cattle and sheep as a great possibility in McIntosh County and devoted his attention thereto. His herds numbered four hundred and more.

Along the shores of Green Lake in this crude, simple, sod house brightened by the beautiful soul of a most loving and tender mother seven children were born. These children are: William Arthur, Druggist, Enderlin, N. D.; Ida Marion (Mrs. Zra Bastian) Easton, Ill.; Charlie Donald, stockman, Buffalo, Wyo.; *George John, carpenter, Wishek, N. D. (my great grandfather); Frank Waldron, farmer, Wishek, N. D.; Fred G., farmer, Wishek, N. D.; Luciele Marlys, nurse, Eugene, Oregon.

With educational facilities lacking in a thus new country the father and mother did not lose sight of the necessity of school for their children. Another wing was constructed on their sod shanty, a private tutor hired, and there, their and their neighbor’s children received their first rudiments of an education.

Many were the hardships encountered by these sturdy pioneers but with their armor of courage and faith in a Higher Being they found their way ahead. Stories of Indians attacking a neighboring community bringing thoughts of fear and horror to them were not uncommon. Prairie fires were a constant threat. Coyotes howled around their shanty at night and the noises of the wild geese on the lake were responsible for many a sleepless night. There being no doctor in the county all forms of ailments and sickness were treated by a few simple home remedies. In the winter of 1898 came the first sadness to this pioneering family. They became the victims of a diphtheria epidemic. The father never failing his family, and turning his back to all dangers he might be encountering felt that alcohol was needed for medicine and he walked through snow up to his waist in below zero weather to Hoskins where the same was obtained, returning with it the same day. The lives of all the children were spared except Anna who died January 16, 1898.

Charles Roehm prospered financially and acquired considerable range land. In 1899 he purchased the present Frank Roehm farm for $1.50 per acre and moved his family there in 1902. Where the farm buildings now stand is a historical site in the county, in that before the days of the railroad, it was the townsite of Youngstown a little trading point and post office. where a Mr. Young was postmaster and O. F. Bryant of Napolean drove stage.

From this new location Charles Roehm extended his cattle and sheep business and built himself a fine set of buildings which have since been completely wiped out by prairie fires. In this new home another son, Richard Robert, was born July 27, 1904. He is now a chemist and resides at Anaheim, Calif.

In the fall of 1907 the health of Mrs. Roehm gave way to the severe strain of pioneering and on February 18, 1908 she died at the early age of forty seven. Her death marked the passing of one of McIntosh County’s real pioneer mothers, who not only knew but endured its countless hardships. Her deeply religious nature, patient suffering, loyal devotion and untiring efforts for her family stand as an inspiration for good in the hearts of all who knew her. She was of Lutheran faith. Internment was made in the Wishek Cemetery.

In 1910 Charles Raehm broadened out his business enterprises and established himself in a meat market in Wishek. He acquired several other business establishments in Wishek which were later sold and his attentions centered on his ranch.

Mr. Roehm did not assume any active part in politics but he was always an advocate and a staunch supporter of the principles of the Democratic Party.

On March 26, 1915 the earthly record of Charles Roehm closed, rounding out an earthly life of 62 years, 4 months and 26 days. Burial was officiated from the Lutheran Church in Wishek with Rev. Willms pastor, and internment was made in the Wishek cemetery along side of his wife

Life in the North Dakota Plains

My great grandmother was born in a small town called Ashley, N.D. near Wishek, N.D., in which she spent her entire life until leaving with her husband and remaining children in 1942 for Richmond, CA. Her parents were both Russian immigrants, however, one parent had been here his entire life except for his first 6 months. Her mother was born in Russia, and came to America when she was about 13 in 1889 through the New York Port known as Castle Garden, which is now part of Battery Park/Castle Clinton. Ellis Island had not opened yet, so a lot of people neglect to look at this website and if they cannot locate their ancestors through Ellis Island's website, they might just give up. Little do people know, but since Ellis Island didn't open until late in the game, there was still a significant amount of immigrants that came through other ports in New York that go largely unnoticed - Castle Garden is one of those ports.

Even though my great grandparents were born in Russia, they were of German descent. In the 1700's Catherine the Great called upon her fellow Germans (she was of German descent herself even though she was a ruler of Russia) to come to Russia to help work the land and farm in what some would call today, inhabitable parts. These areas included along the Volga River, parts of Siberia and along the Black Sea region. Our family came from the Black Sea region, which is now what they consider the Ukraine.

Looking closer, however, my great, great grandfather's side (surname is Herr) came from an area called Kamorovka - See below for a description from Wikipedia:

Kamarovka was founded as Kassel in 1810. It is part of the Bergdorf, Glückstal,^[1] Kassel, Neudorf area near Odessa in Ukraine, which was allocated by the Russia Crown government to German immigrants who left certain areas of Germany/Hungary (Hesse, Baden, Württemberg (now Baden-Württemberg), Alsace (now part of France), the Palatinate, or Hungary) between 1808 and 1810.^[2] The immigrants who founded Kassel were all Protestants, the majority Evangelical [Lutheran], a minority Reformed. Czar Alexander I encouraged immigration from many countries into the Ukrainian areas along the Black Sea, acquired from the Ottoman Empire in 1804. The Germans were fleeing the oppressive occupation of southwest Germany by Napoleon’s armies (until his defeat at Waterloo in 1815). Although the Russians discouraged the practice of any religion other than Russian Orthodoxy, the official church of Russia, Czar Alexander I granted religious freedom and other special privileges, such as local autonomy and temporary tax relief, to the German immigrants. In 1871, Czar Alexander II revoked some of the special privileges (including exemption from military service) originally granted to the German immigrants by Czar Alexander I, and shortly after that many of them began to migrate to the United States, especially to the Dakotas.^[3]

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The Herr family had a rich and varied history prior to coming to Russia. It seemed they had a case of wanderlust. Many of the Herr's lived and married in first Germany, then Madagascar, then Hungary, then France then back to Germany; when they removed themselves Germany completely and moved to Russia, for very likely the same reasons listed above - oppression from Napoleon's army.

When my great, great grandfather came to America (landing in Baltimore and traveling to North Dakota), his parents once again uprooted and left for yet another foreign land that brought promise to them. Maybe America finally brought the riches the Herr's had been looking for, because Jacob's father, Jacob Sr., was one of the more well to do in Wishek. He owned one of the major mercantile stores in the area, and along with good farming skills and business dealings, Jacob Sr., built a grand home in the area and made Wishek his homestead. His oldest son and namesake, took on the business with his brothers while also being involved with the cattle trade, often traveling on a private car on the Soo Line to Chicago. Unfortunately, sometime in 1926-27, Jacob Jr. never returned from one of his trips to Chicago. No one knows what happened to him except part of me questions some actions taken by some family members during the aftermath of his disappearance. Shortly after he disappeared, his wife Christina was removed from her home by several family members, she then moved in with her eldest daughter who lived nearby. It is presumed the home and property were either sold or other family members moved into her former home. Some years later, Jacob's daughter, Martha, hired a private investigator to track Jacob's whereabouts, however, nothing turned up on him.

There seems to be little sympathy for Christina and what happened to her husband. Dare I say there was some foul play that happened to Jacob? Was he murdered for his inheritance? Some legal papers I found stated that Jacob was entitled to a fortune, that with inflation, equaled close to $1,000,000 dollars.

It's a sad ending which left Christina a widow with several young children to still raise. Until this day, I cannot locate any death records for Jacob Herr nor a grave site for him. Part of me feels as if his body was left somewhere between Fargo and Chicago. I know it sounds dismal, but this is my hunch and it's a very sad outcome for a family member of ours.

The mercantile store stayed open at least until the mid-1980's. I am not sure if it prospered past that point.

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Please see some photos here of the Herr's in Wishek, ND

Jacob Herr Jr with wife Christina (nee Orth) and oldest daughter, Lydia (my great-grandmother), circa 1897

 The Herr Mercantile Store in an add in the Wishek 1948 Jubilee book (this photo taken in 1909)

Martha, Lydia (my great-grandmother), Arthur and Sophie Herr, circa 1904, Wishek, North Dakota

Joshua and Jacob III Herr at their home, circa 1923-24. It appears a tent is outside for them to play in.

The Herr homestead as a Bird's Eye view, circa 1910's

A closer view of the Herr Homestead, circa 1910's

The Herr Mercantile store. A rare photo taken from inside. Lydia may have taken this photo. She worked inside the store as a seamstress, circa 1912.