Ernst Fred Dannheim

Ernest Fritz Dannheim

The book, "Early TX Birth Records, 1833-187811,shows Wilhelm and Sophie as parents of ADOLPH, born 19 Jan. 1876. This is the birthdate for Ernest, so we have another name: to add in front ofhis--it is probably Adolph Ernest Friedrich Dannheim.

Ernest and Dena were on the census for Kendell Cty in 1900, as were Dena's parents, Hulda and Richard Ratliff, who were living next to Hulda's brother's (Constance's) family.

In 1904 a quitclaim deed was drawn up for Ernest and Dena to sign over land to Ernest's father, Wilhelm. While the deed is from Gillespie County in 1904, the notarizing took place in :The Indian Territory, Chickasaw Nation, four years later, in 1908. In this deed, for the sum of $50, Ernest gave over his right to any share in survey #14, " ... being such as was acquired by me by inheritance from my mother, Sophie Dannheim, deceased."

In 1910 they were living in Kerrville. In 1914 we have a photo of them taken in Cameron, Milam County, which is two counties northeast of the city of Austin.

In 1930, we find the Ernest Dannheim family as migrant workers in Phoenix, Arizona, or more specifically, Queen Creek, hiring on at the Sossaman farm to pick cotton. This was the era of the 1929 Crash, followed by the Great Depression, and then the Dust Bowl with its 11 Grapes of Wrath11 period. In the l 930's, the business of many Americans became one of staying alive. The national income fell by half between 1929 and 1932. In addition to that, the beginnings of the Dust Bowl period were felt in Texas. To someone like Ernest, who labeled himself a farmer in the northern half of Texas, it became increasingly impossible to eke out a living for oneself and one's family. The family had always moved, but within Texas. At this time, they needed to get out and find someplace else where there was work. With a family of nine children to feed, they became migrant workers and ended up in Arizona picking cotton.

The Dust Bowl is a name for the area that includes the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles and adjacent parts. Early in the 20th century, farmers began to plow up the natural grass cover and plant winter wheat. The area suffered from severe drought between 1934 and 193 7, and without the complex root system of the grasses to anchor it, much of the soil was picked up the the winds. The resulting dust storms and sandstorms were so severe that roads and houses were buried and clouds from the storms were observed hundreds of miles away. More than half the population left the area.

Conditions were so bad that the government formed a federal agency called the Resettlement Administration to aid impoverished farmers who had suffered from years of drought and dust during the Depression.

Ernest died in Lometa in 193 5 and is buried with Dena at the Senterfit Cemetery in Lometa, Lampasas, TX. The cause of his death was "Angina Pictoris". His son, Herbert, was the informant on his death certificate.