Meredith 1

Cyann Meredith
ENG101
Cultural Beginnings Essay: Rough Draft
16 October 2016
Culture Includes What?
Originally I had thought culture just meant what is the origin of my family, so naturally,
my answer would be that most of my family comes from Germany. The origin of people is a big
part of culture, but what does culture really mean? Culture is like a large puzzle, containing
multiple parts that all connect together to create a greater image. The individual puzzle pieces are
unique, corresponding to how the elements of culture are all as equally exceptional. Each puzzle
piece is needed to complete the picture, just like how each individual element of culture is
necessary in creating the person as a whole. With some research I was able to find what puzzle
pieces make up my culture.
Social Organization
My great grandfather, on my fathers side, was Frederick August Wilhelm Krueger the
11th, and he was married to Carrie Budde. The Kruegers were farmers, originally from northern
Bavaria in Germany. His family came overseas in the 1880s and settled on farm land in Illinois,
mostly in Effingham County. From there, some Kruegers moved to Springfield, Illinois and
worked in the coal and oil fields in the area. When a family member landed in America and
settled, they would send for others, and sponsor them- which means that they would take these

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newly immigrated family members into the already established homes. My great grandfather
arrived here in the early 1900s and housed with his parents, and his grandparents. My great
grandmother, Carrie Budde came from the same area of Germany as Fred did. When she and her
family first arrived, many of her family remained in Effingham, Illinois.
Having a big nuclear family can be found all throughout the Krueger lineage. Fred grew
up with six sisters and was the only boy. Carrie Krueger also had a big family with 13 brothers
and sisters. So to find out that Fred and Carrie Krueger had seven children was not a big surprise.
With all these big families living under one roof, a lot of members took up working on the family
farms. With my great grandfather being the only male heir, he was exempt from the draft in
World War I. Since he did not have to be deployed for war, he picked up the job of driving a
team or horses that carried supplies to the oil fields. He also worked in factories and hunted
rabbits to sell for extra money. Many family members worked multiple jobs, giving the
Kruegers a comfortable cushion of income, putting them in what back then was considered
middle class.
This comfortable living style trickled down the family line and continues with my
generation. The Kruegers were motivated and hardworking people and that kind of mindset has
instilled itself into me. The willingness to provide and sacrifice for my family is something that
runs hot through my veins and I could not be more proud to be part Krueger.
Religion
On my fathers side of the family, going back to the Kruegers, they were all Lutheran.
Effingham county was a generally small area at the time, filled with farms, factories, oil fields

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and churches. Everyone spoke German and English, and life revolved around church, family, and
work. All of my family members went to church in what was known as Dutch Lane, separate
from Effingham. There was a Lutheran church there, and the cemetery remains, but the church
was torn down in the 1960s, and the members went to Effingham to the church there, called St
Johns Lutheran, where my grandmother went to Sunday School.
Rose Bellotti was my grandmothers great great-grandmother and her great greatgrandfather was Dominick Romano (on my mothers side). The Bellotti and Romano families
raised their children as strict and devout Roman Catholics. Both families actively participated in
social functions at the church and communities where they raised their families. Bellotti and
Romano subscribed to God, church, family, friends and worked very hard to support their
families in this new land of opportunity. Each family ruled their children with strict discipline
and rewarded for good deeds the children would do for other families in the community. Such as
helping wash clothes, hang them to dry or gather small coal bits found on the railroad tracks to
heat their homes in the winter months. Their family rule was to treat others as you want to be to
be treated.
My great great-grandmother, Barbara Loughman and my grampy (great great-grandpa),
Brad Cowden met while in high school. Barbara was still Catholic but began to question certain
religious belief and symbols. Brad was of German heritage and a Protestant. When they got
married, Barbara became a Protestant and subscribed to the Presbyterian faith of pre-destination.
God, church, family, friends and hard work to support the family was the values evident in this
home.

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My grandmother followed the Catholic faith and my grandfather followed the
Presbyterian faith. My mother was raised by both faiths and then was given a choice of which to
follow, but as my mother got older, things changed. She began to question the religion and
decided that she did not wish to follow any faith. This was the same scenario with my father. He
grew up catholic, but quickly learned that he did not care for religion and beliefs of that sort.
With both my parent not claiming a faith, my siblings and I grew up with the choice of whether
we wanted to endeavor into a faith or not. We did not grow up pushed into a religion or were
influenced by a faith, we had free range to explore all and whatever faiths peaked our interest.
Personally, I have decided not to follow a faith and I think that it is perfectly fine.
I choose to go into detail on my familys social organization and religion mainly because
these two elements of culture have a huge effect on who I am today. These individual puzzle
pieces come together to make up my image. No two puzzles will ever be exactly the same,
making everyone a one-of-a-kind image. I do not know about you, but I think this original puzzle
turned out pretty fantastic!

Works Cited
Cowden, Barabra. "Family Culture." E-mail interview. 16 Oct. 2016.
Meredith, Melissa. "Family Lineage." Personal interview. 16 Oct. 2016.
Smith, Gloria. Krueger History. E-mail interview. 16 Oct. 2016.