By Bev Jackson, Historical Museum director

History came alive for me in the fall of 1976. I was an OTA (older than average) student at what was then called Austin Community College. Because I had registered late for the fall session, I had few options for classes, and American history still had some openings.

I had no idea what was ahead of me.

Dr. Richard Guentzel lectured on the decisions people made rather than dates and details. He helped us understand that history is people just like you and me. I’ve been fascinated about history ever since.

A week ago, the museum sponsored “Echoes From the Past: A Walk Into History.” This event provided the opportunity for visitors to wander through Graceland Cemetery and to hear the fife stories of people who have lived in our community. The lady I portrayed was named Dorathea Naeve.

She was born in northeastern Germany in 1841 and came to America with her parents, brother and sister when she was about eight years old. The Soth family left Germany during the great wave of immigration caused by crop failure, famine, and the cholera epidemic. They were heading for a new land, new opportunities, and a new life. They settled in Watertown, Wis., because of relatives already living there. Within just a few weeks, Dorathea’s parents both died of the cholera, and less than a year later, her sister drowned.

Dorothea, 9, and Charles, 4, were orphaned and in a strange land. An uncle, Adolph, with his much younger wife and very small children, allowed them to stay on his farm until they were old enough to move out on their own. I cannot imagine the loneliness and sadness these children must have known.

Eventually Dorathea moved to Milwaukee to work, I’m guessing as a housekeeper, and when he was old enough, Charles moved to Waterloo, Iowa where he met Theodore Naeve, also a German immigrant. Together they started the Naeve & Soth Mercantile, and Dorathea joined her brother to work as his housekeeper. In 1873, when they all moved to Albert Lea, the city was less than 20 years old, and the opportunity was there for success for these hard working German immigrants. Their store and banking and meatpacking management ventures all led to a prosperous life and the respect of the citizens of this community.

Theodore and Dorathea married, they spent a year traveling in Germany, and they built a beautiful, Victorian-style home on Fountain Street. They adopted a little girl Edith, and it seemed that their life was just about perfect. Then in the next few years, another series of tragedies happened to this family.

When Theodore was 45, he died very suddenly of a bowel obstruction, then when Dorathea and her daughter moved to Minneapolis so Edith could attend the University, Dorathea was struck by a horse while she was crossing Nicollet Avenue, and she died of her injuries. Only a year later, brother Charles died of a horrible elevator accident at the Brundin Meat Packing Plant.

Their story is terribly sad. However, Dorathea had expressed interest in leaving their home and land on Fountain Street to the newly formed city and county hospital association, and this did happen after her death. The following year, her brother’s will left $5,000 to the same organization.

In the years prior to this time, people were treated for their illnesses in their homes, and in very severe cases, they may have stayed in a room at their doctor’s residence. For a while rooms for ill patients were rented from Dr. Wilcox. Until the bequests of Dorathea Naeve and her brother Charles Soth, the newly formed city and county medical association had very little in assets. The Naeve and Soth gifts inspired 100 men in the community to canvas the county and within two days they had raised $21,000 for the purpose of building a new 40-bed hospital. A ladies’ auxiliary was formed and it raised $2,500 for furnishings.

In spite of the sadness and the tragedies of this family, they left a medical legacy to our community that is an inspiration to all of us.

When I drove home from Graceland Cemetery that day, I thought about Dr. Guentzel’s lectures and his theories. History is people, just like you and me. We have no way of knowing how our decisions will affect future generations.

(Bev Jackson is the executive director of the Freeborn County Historical Museum.)