Iroquois County Illinois, ELMER BRUTLAG FAMILY Submitted by: (c) Copyright 1999 Elaine Frigone THE ELMER BRUTLAG FAMILY, February 1999 Copyright 1999 Elaine Frigone This history's beginnings are identical to that of the Henry Brutlag family on the preceding page. It isn't clear just when the name changed from "Brutlach" to "Brutlag." Since the first Brutlags buried in the church cemetery have the "lach" ending, it was probably after the family settled here and English began creeping into their lives. Elmer Brutlag, son of August and Louise [Louisa] Salmon Brutlag [married May 1, 1890] was born March 6, 1904, one of nine children. The family lived on a farm in the North part of Section 5, Ash Grove Township, which is now along Rt. 49. A picture of their home is found on page 123 of the 1904 plat book. The August Brutlag children are: Helen [Mrs. John Munstermann]; Clara [Mrs. Henry Munstermann] Woodworth; Lydia [Mrs. Ed Blanken] Woodworth; Martha [Mrs. Fred Bohlmann] Watseka; Arthur [m. Ella Luecke] Woodworth; Edna [Mrs. Walter Kaufman] Buckley; Elmer [m. Mathilde Krumsieg] Woodworth; Lorenz [m. Mabel Conroy] Oak Lawn; Elenora [m. Oscar Schultz, then Wally Baehr after being widowed] Shawano, Wisconsin. All these children are living except for Helen. All of the remaining sisters are widows and Arthur is a widower. The oldest is 86 and the youngest is 70. Elmer married Mathilda Krumsieg of Henning, Minnesota, August 25, 1928. They have five children: Marvin [m. Vinita Bohlmann] Herscher; Vernon [m. Shirley Larsen] Watseka; Rosalyn [Mrs. Ivan Wilkening] RR, Cissna Park; Dolores [Mrs. Elroy Pfingsten] RR, Milford; Janice [Mrs. Leslie Garrelts] Woodworth. There are ten grandchildren and four great-grandchildren: Dennis Brutlag [m. Cathy Wolles] Aurora, [two children, Michelle, Lisa] and Jerry Brutlag [m. Cheryl Elmhorst] Buckingham, [two children, Holly, Tiffany]. Roger and Sandra Brutlag. Ellen and Timothy Wilkening. Yvonne Pfingsten. Lyle, Lynn and Lloyd [twins] Garrelts. Elmer was in the garage business in Woodworth from 1925 to 1936. He was in the tavern business until 1971. His garage was in the building built by John Boyer in 1920. In 1933 when Prohibition was repealed, he thought someone should have beer for sale. He called Dr. Altman, Watseka [a beer distributor] who brought out five cases of Edelwiess. That was the start of the tavern business. Many will recall the Fish Frys held in Woodworth in the summers past. This is how they got started: "My brother- in-law, Herman Hue and his wife, Alvina, [Tillie's sister], operated a summer resort near Henning, Minnesota and would stay with us for a while in the wintertime. One day he and I decided to serve fish sandwiches. I got ten pounds of blue-fins, which we had to dress ourselves. Next we had to have batter. I was able to figure out a suitable recipe by asking around and doing some experimenting. When someone bought a nickel glass of beer, we would give them a sandwich. The men went home and told their women that they had fish in the tavern, then the women said they would like some too. I could not give them away with a nickel glass of beer, so we sold them for a nickel each. As more people heard about the fish, we started to have regular fish frys. Through the years, the tavern expanded twice to help with fish fry congestion. In the late 30's or early 40's we started with 20 to 25 pounds of fish. At the last fry in 1971 we sold 675 pounds of fish. People would come from miles around to attend the fish frys which were held every other Saturday during the summer. They came from Danville, Champaign, Herscher, Kankakee, some even came as far away as Indiana. They would park their cars alongside the road as far south as the first farm place, and north to the corner and half-way to the church. The whole family would come. Father would go inside and get the sandwiches and drinks then take them back to the car. Some brought card tables and chairs and ate in the park. It sometimes took an hour or more to get their order filled, but they passed the time visiting with friends. At first fish was only sold in the afternoon and evening but as more people came, some started coming earlier. Finally, we were starting to fry at 9 am. By 1 PM we would have 200 pounds already fried. At 5 PM it started to get busy again, until 9 or 10 PM, unless we ran out of fish sooner than that. We had tray orders and carry-outs [in a sack] which people would take home to eat. The largest single order was 60 sandwiches. It took lots of help. We had six or seven in the kitchen, mostly women, and that many men behind the bar. It kept one man busy just taking orders and one man to keep the coolers filled with beer and pop. I was in the tavern for 38 years and I have yet to throw out my first man. It has been said that the children of Elmer BRUTLAG had a small addition to their wedding ceremonies: that they promise to "love, honor, obey, and help at the fish fry." This is just a joke, of course, but it is true that many relatives helped. Spouses, uncles, aunts, cousins, and grandchildren were enlisted as cooks, waiters, etc. The whole family has pleasant memories of these days and are proud to be a part of area history. From Milford & Vicinity Sesquicentennial Souvenir Book 1830-1980 ------------------------------------------------------------------ USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organiza- tions or persons. 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