Merle also had very blonde hair and blue eyes. In addition he had freckles, a trait acquired from my grandmother. His cry is recorded on a family tape of the Grenz’s fiftieth wedding anniversary. And Mother changed her very big plans once to accommodate his distress at the prospect of being left alone. She was taking a bus to Rapid City South Dakota to visit my father who was working there – “laying pipe”. He would not agree to being left with the babysitter, so she took him along. She tells of having to kill time in downtown Rapid City so stepping into a movie theater to find only men inside. Feeling very uncomfortable, she left hastily.

She found my father’s small trailer to be very messy, and proceeded to put it in order. I’m not sure that Merle was much help, but my father was pleased by my mother’s hard work. Still was the visit all that it could have been if Merle had not come along? These are the sorts of questions that adults looking back can finally ask.
Before I let Merle tell his own story, I will share a few memories. We had a few fights as young boys. I gave him a bloody nose one “jumping on the bed” - time when Mother was not home. We were living in a Missoula motel for six months before my parents were able to purchase our Sussex Ave home where another fight is recorded indelibly. Begun for some unknown reason, it ended when I smashed him into the broom closet wall, cracking the wall.


                                                              Merle Grenz: An Autobiography

My family history is German. What does it mean to me? Is it pride in the accomplishments of the German people? Our shared history of great scientists like Einstein, musicians like Bach, inventors like Guttenberg, religious thinkers like Luther, autocratic rulers like the Prussians, fun loving partygoers like the Bavarians; or maybe it’s shame for the dark side of our shared history when the likes of Hitler and his henchmen ruled in Germany. Being German is a compilation of all that and yet the greatest aspect of being German is what was given me in the form of character. German frugality, honesty, peace loving, respect and love of the land, love of hard work, self reliance, and respect for others. My research revealed some other interesting things for me about being German. The area of land that is called Germany today has been overrun by various groups of people for centuries. Each group inserted something of themselves on the natives and each changed the culture as they came and went. One interesting fact is that Julius Caesar made not that the Germanic peoples were “Pastoralists”. They were mainly people that raised frocks and herds of animals and they also did some farming. I also discovered that they were not well organized in their government. They lived in tribes made up of clans. They believed that each tribe owned the land in common and also that each tribe maintained their own integrity and their own laws. The laws went with the tribe. In other words they did not change and conform to other tribe’s laws when they moved to another area. Two reasons I found this interesting is that I have always felt that farming and ranching (pastoralism) is in my blood, but I just can’t make a living at it right now. Where is winning the lottery when you need it? The other is that there are still some Germanic peoples that live like those of the first century. The Amish live a communal existence and have their own laws that each community abides by as they farm, ranch, and practice their religion. The community takes care of each individual and I think that is a good way for us to exist and survive.

The name “Grenz” means “border” in German. In medieval Germany the name Grenz was used to identify a person who lived near a boundary line or boundary marker. When I was traveling in Germany and went to cross the Swiss and German borders I saw the Grenz Patrol. My name is alive and well – still being used in Germany today. That makes me feel good. The name, Grenz, seems to fit some in the family that I know of. Speaking for myself now, I find myself constantly straddling that proverbial fence (border), seeing both sides and having trouble deciding which side of it I want to be on. I was able to get a lot of family history from my cousin who enjoys the research for our family roots. It seems that we can trace back to the 1700s in general terms. Some time about 1770 there was born the “Unknown” Grenz. He was married about 1787 to another unknown. How’s that for good information? Anyway, they had two children, and my direct ancestor was their son, Samuel Grenz. I think he was born in Bromberg, Prussia, which is the Northern portion of Germany today, in the year 1796. He married Anna Schielke in 1818 in Rohrbach, South Russia. He died on the 18th of December 1858 in Guldendorf, Odessa, Russia. They had four children. He migrated from Germany to Russia sometime around 1813 when he was 17 years old. History shows that in the early 1800s Germany was not a unified country. There were over 300 principalities and powers. There was a lot of fighting, wars, poor crops and religious persecution. I can surmise that my ancestors, much like myself, were more of the poor peasant type, just wanting to be left in peace and not wanting to fight. They chose to move and not fight, even though it would entail many hardships. Them moving did not mean they lacked courage. Peaceful people and warlike people both suffer hardships and neither lacks courage. They just pursue their dreams in different ways, from different perspectives. Prior to Samuel Grenz moving to Russia, Catherine the Great of Russia had issued her Manifesto in 1763. This decree offered the Germans many inducements to leave Germany and move to Russia. Among them was freedom from serving in the Russian military – freedom to maintain their German culture in Russia – freedom to educate their children as Germans – freedom to live and farm as they wanted to. She also said that if they came over they could own their land, pay no taxes and she would help pay the expenses incurred during the trip from Germany. For a farmer what more could you want? Not much, I would think. Those that were in Russia already had written back to say how wonderful it was and the opportunities were endless. They jumped in the car, loaded the moving van and oops, that’s now, but then they would have left most of their worldly goods behind, loaded up a horse drawn cart and walked the 1,000 miles to their new homeland. More than a few hardships would have been encountered, and there were no Big Macs and Red Roof Inns for them. When they arrived they saw great rolling plains of nothing. Their imagination would make it into something they would love – a place to call home, a place to be German – a place to prosper and raise their families in peace.

Samuel and Anna’s son Georg Adam Grenz was born in 1819 in Rohrbach, Odessa, Russia. He married Katharina Dengler in 1837 and they had 11 children. We do not have a record of when he died but he stayed in Russia and would have been buried there. My great grandfather was born, Johann Samuel Grenz, 1838 in Guldendorf, Odessa, Russia. He married Rosina Lutz about 1861. They had 12 children. He died in 1919 in Lodi, California. He appears to have gone by his middle name of Samuel.