Hiding in Plain Sight and Hidden Treasures

Where do I begin? Since my last post so much has been discovered that it has been slightly overwhelming! From finding family connections to getting hidden treasures from the National Archives it has been a banner couple of weeks.

Let me go back to Nicholas Singsheim. I have in my possession, copies of some of the pages of Saint Joseph Schenectady, New York Marriages August 1862 to December, 2000 from the Schenectady County Historical Society Library. On page 398, there are two records of particular interest:

1.      Zinchsheim, John              08 Feb 1872                Mayer, Elisabeth

         Frederick & Margaret Faerber                          Francis & Barbara Sauter

         WITNESSES Nicholaus Endres, Mattew Lauter*

          *Susan Lauter & Mary Endres; Groom is 59 years old, widower,

            born in Sinheim Prussia; Bride 34, born in Feningen Rehno-Bavari

2.      Zingsheim, James             01 Jul 1872                  Sauerborn, Helen

         John & Elisabeth Roehrig                                     John* & Margaret Benz
        WITNESSES Mathew Gruen & Anne Marie Eva Gruen
         * Schmidt; Groom is 29 years old widower, born in Sehnheim Prussia;
            Bride 23, widow, born in Lach Rheno-Bavanria

It is my belief that John Zinchsheim is the father of James. He is 30 years older than James and they appear to be from the same town in Prussia. Both men are entering into a second marriage. John’s new wife who is 24 years his junior and is definitely of child-bearing years.

Going to the pages I have from the St-Joseph Schenectady, New York Baptisms June 1862 to November 2002, we find this on page 392 and page 479:
·         Singsheim, Andrew                                       (John & Elizabeth Meier)
           Birth: 18 Aug 1876                              Bapt: 10 Sep 1876
·         Zingsheim, Nicholas                                      (Joseph & Elizabeth Meier)
           Born 15 Aug 1881                               Bapt 04 Sep 1881

Nicholas and Andrew are brothers! After all, what are the chances that two different men named John Zinchsheim and Joseph Zingsheim marry a women Elizabeth Mayer/Meier.  Keep in mind that Mayer and Meier are variations of the same name.  If this holds true, as I believe it does, than Andrew and Nicholas are half-brothers to James Zingsheim who married Helen (Schmidt) Sauerborn, my Great-great Grandmother!

Which in turn connects me to Mr. Frank “Red” Singsheim, whose Grandfather was Nicholas Singsheim, as half second cousins twice removed. How cool is that! I can’t wait to get up to Schenectady to meet him. The other cool thing is that since my last post one of the granddaughters of Nicholas Singsheim’s sister contacted me too. Who would have thought that one simple phone call would have led to all of this fun. And to think that all of this was hiding in my own files of documents, quietly sitting there waiting for me to put the pieces together. Man, I love Genealogy!

Now for the other exciting bit of news. This past Wednesday, my good friend Sandra Rumble hopped on a train and headed to the National Archives in Washington, D.C. to do some research. Being the good friend that she is, she asked if she could pull any records for me. Of course I had one, Jacob Singshimer!

Now, Sandy had her own research to do but somehow she managed to find the time to pull Jacob's pension packet from the Civil War for me. And yesterday in my Dropbox waiting for me was a folder with 70+ images for Jacob/James Singsheimer. Hiding in this wonderful folder was Jacob's Certificate of Death naming his parents John and Elizabeth and numerous depositions from various friends and family members verifying that Helen and Jacob were married. It also contains the names and burial information of Jacobs first wife and Helen's first husband.

 

 

But it also had this:



This is a Certificate of Marriage of Helen's first marriage to John Sauerborn, my Great-Great Grandfather! Does it get any better that this? (I apologize that this picture is sideways, for the life of me even though it's saved right-side up, it inserts sideways.)

AND it had the original Baptismal Certificate of Anna Singsheim, Helen and Jacob's youngest. Apparently they were questioning the date of her birth.

Seriously, was this folder not full of hidden treasures? I'm still going through it and finding more exciting tidbits.

So what are you waiting for get thyself to the National Archives you never know what you'll find!

Chance Encounter

Lately, I've been researching my mother's side of the family that lived in Schenectady, New York. Years ago, before I knew how to organize my thoughts, my husband and I traveled up to Schenectady to search the records at the Historical Society, and to find and photograph headstones of those family members buried at St. Joseph's Cemetery.  Though I found a few records at the Historical Society, my luck ran out when it came to the cemetery. I hadn't made a list of potential surnames of the families that lived and died in the area. This was a crucial mistake that caused me to have a less than successful trip.

It's time for me to make a second trip to Schenectady and this time I vow to be prepared. With the help of GenDetective® software I’ll be able to make a list of ALL the families that lived and died in the county. It won’t be necessary for me to remember who and when because the trip report will do it for me! Thank you so much, Sandra Rumble.

But I also wanted to be able to find my way around the cemetery more efficiently. So I made a phone call to St. Joseph’s Church to inquire about the cemetery and plot locations. This was the best phone call I have had in a long time! The Secretary was extremely nice and she cheerfully gave me the name of the gentleman who runs the cemetery. She then asked me what names I was looking for, so I gave her the names of Sauerborn and Singsheim. Her voice lit up and she proceeded to tell me that she was familiar with those names. In fact she knew this one couple, the Singsheims who had been members of the parish for years. Well, to make my story short, I asked her to pass my phone number on to this couple. Which she did and to my surprise Mr. Singsheim called me that very afternoon!

We had a wonderful conversation and though it is unclear at this point in time if we are cousins, I love it that I have made a connection with this delightful man. He proceeded to tell me what he knew about is father Leroy, Grandfather Nicholas and his Grandmother Esther. It turned out he really knew very little, his father died when he was 27 years old and his grandfather supposedly deserted the family just after his father was born back in 1912. His grandmother eventually remarried and he did know that name which was Strout. He also knew the name of another man, Andrew Singsheim. He didn’t know how he was connected to the family, however. WELL! This was more than I could stand. As any red-blooded-hound-dog genealogist I had to try and find something about his grandfather.

With the sparse information I had, the hunt was on. My first find was in the 1910 census and that led to the 1905 New York Census. Searching more broadly, I also was able to find Nicholas in the 1900 census when he was only 19 years old. Knowing the name of his Grandmother’s second husband led me to her Social Security Application which gave the names of her parents. This allowed me to find her family in the 1892 New York Census which supplied the names of her siblings at the time.

But it was frustrating that Nicholas could not be located beyond 1910. Where was he? Going back to search the census records I decided to look outside of Schenectady.  Low and behold, I find in the 1910 census for Albany, New York a prisoner in the Albany City Penitentiary named Nick Singsheim, 29 years old. Esther must have lied! But where did he go after prison? Is there a surviving criminal record? Did he die in prison? And who is this Andrew? And did he know anything about Nicholas? Who was Nicholas's father? Is he connected to my Singsheims?

My trip to Schenectady just got more involved!

What's In A Name?

There is a Chinese Proverb that states:The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names.
But what if you can't find the "right" name?

Searching for our ancestors can be quite daunting. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to sort through various spelling variations to find your family members. My maiden name is Schralla but that is not the surname of my 2x Great-Grandfather. His last name, according to the church records from Germany states his last name as Schütte, known as Schrell. On the passenger list from Bremen to New York in 1860 it appears as Schrill. In the 1870 U.S. Federal Census for Quincy, Adams Count, Illinois it appears as Schriller and in the 1880 census it’s Schreller. It’s not until the 1900’s that it finally morphs into Schralla.

So when it came to do researching my Mother’s side of the family with the name Sauerborn, I was prepared to do some digging. Surprisingly in the New York passenger list of 1856, the name is Sauerborn as it is in the church records from Germany. But in the 1860 U.S. Census it is clearly written as Sawborn but in Ancestry.com the name is listed a Swborn. Then in the New York State Census for 1865 it’s written as Souerbourn In 1870 U.S. Federal Census it has the wonderful spelling of Sarbarn but once again Ancestry has it indexed as Sarbam. Searching the 1875 New York census I find the name as Sowborn but again Ancestry has it indexed as Lowborn. And finally, in the U.S. Federal Census for 1880 the matriarch is living with her daughter and the name is Sauerborn.

William Shakespeare once said, “What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Our family is our family regardless of how the name is spelled. It sure would be nice, however, when records are being indexed that the person doing so had good eyesight; and can read and write English. Because how can we gain wisdom if we don't know what the right name is?

You Picked A Fine Time To Leave Me...

Lately I have been researching my Mother's family who lived in New York. Unlike my father's family that lived and moved in the southern States, her family stayed in and around the Keuka and Seneca Lake area. Predominantly in the towns of  Geneva, Seneca of Ontario County and Penn Yan in Yates County are where I find these relatives. Even still, with names such as Grady, Kelly and Cummings it hasn't been easy. Because of this my husband has often found me muttering to myself as I bang my head on my desk.

 

Recently I started to look into Jeremiah and Mary (Ginty) Cummings my 2x Great-Grandparents. According to the 1870 U.S. Federal Census they are living in Fayette, Seneca County, New York. Jeremiah is a farm laborer and is 30 years old. Mary is 25 and she is keeping house as well as caring for two year old twin daughters, Maggie and Lizzie and a six month old daughter Mary, (my Great Grandmother). Also living with them is Mary's sister Ann Ginty who is 14 years old.

 

In the 1875 New York census they have moved to Geneva, Ontario County and Jeremiah is still working as a farmer laborer. Everyone is five years older and the family has grown, Anna is three years old, Richard is two and John is six months. But then something happens, for in the 1880 U.S. Federal Census Mary is 35 years old, a mother of nine children ranging from 13 years old to one years old and she's a widow! Can you imagine the overwhelming despair she must have felt? The anxiety of how she would provide for these children is unimaginable.

 

Searching through Fultonhistory.com for anything regarding Jeremiah was just a bit daunting. But then in the Geneva Gazette for January 9, 1880 I find this:

 

 

Andrew Desmond it turns out is a Grocer in Geneva. Did Jeremiah owe him a considerable amount of money or was there more to it? Nothing else was found online so I'll have to return to Geneva to search for any court records.

 

Searching further through the newspapers I then come across this in The Post-Standard, Syracuse New York, June 1 1908:

 



It reads: "Geneva May 31-Word was received in this city to-day of the death in a private sanitarium at Wichita, Tex., of Jeremiah Cummings, formerly of this city___of whom nothing had been heard in twenty years and who was supposed to have been dead. At the time Mr. Cummings disappeared it was though he met with foul play and the family and relatives used all kinds of means to end mention of his whereabouts but without success." It goes on to say he was 68 years old and that he is survived by a brother, a wife, three sons and five daughters. No burial information is given. Also notably he wasn't aware of the birth of his youngest daughter and ninth child.

 

My next step was to contact the Historian of the Town of Geneva for any burial information for Jeremiah. Unfortunately she did not have anything but she made contact for me with her counterpart in Wichita County Texas. She wrote back that in Riverside Cemetery there is a Cummings buried in Section Q, Lot 300. His burial date was May 28, 1908.

 

Why he left his young wife and children will probably never be known. Why he traveled to Texas will also be a mystery. But my guess is that the family said to heck with him, he can just stay in Texas and rot! 

 

Mary's life was difficult after her husband left. From the various censuses from 1880 to 1910 she worked as a domestic, a laundress and a cook. The younger children lived with their older siblings as they married and started their own lives. Two of the younger sisters lived with their sister Maggie, the three brothers lived with their sister Lizzie. Mary eventually lives her with her youngest son, Jeremiah until her death in 1914.

 

Authors own picture; St Patrick's Cemetery, Geneva, Ontario, NY


Rest in peace Mary, you deserve it!



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





What's Cookin'?

Baking is something I enjoy doing. Though I'm not one to strike out on my own, and develop my own cookie, cake or pie recipe, I'm pretty good at determining which new recipes are going to be really yummy.

 

Growing up sadly I don't remember my mother doing much baking. She was however, a great cook! One of my favorites was her Chicken and Rice with gravy. Sounds simple I know, but I have yet to duplicate it exactly. Oh I've gotten close but it's not quite right. Then there was her Ham and Bean Soup. This soup was thick and totally satisfying on a cold winter night. It was especially good with warm cornbread!  It wasn't until I said something to my Dad when I was visiting him (Mom died in 2000), that he said he thought Mom had written that recipe down. Sure enough, after searching through all her cookbooks, there on a small scrape of paper was the recipe. Now, when I make this soup it really does taste just like hers! But it was also her stuffing/dressing she made for the turkey on Thanksgiving and Christmas that probably is my all time favorite. It isn't complicated it's simply celery, onion, poultry seasoning and pork sausage. But whether it's hot or cold it really is the best. In fact, my eldest son's ex-wife loved it so much she now makes it too. But, it was my Dad who gave me the recipe for Lamb Chops! These chops are melt in your mouth goodness that makes me salivate just thinking about them.
 

Both my boys have their favorite foods that only I can make. For both of the boys it's the Lamb Chops, of course and Turkey and Dressing. One time while visiting Patrick in Tulsa for Christmas, I made for the full turkey dinner. The apartment smelled wonderful and when we finally sat down he said to me, "Now, it really feels like Christmas!" This was music to my ears. Though this happened years ago, to this day, it still warms my heart whenever I think of that moment. Both of the boys have their favorite dinners as well as desserts. Among them are Grasshopper Pie, Oatmeal cookies, Chocolate Chip cookies and Apple Pie and when they come to visit, they expect these goodies to be made. Baking and cooking for them is a joy. I just wish they were closer so it could be done more often.

 

But this got me thinking, shouldn't we be passing down recipes and baking secrets? Shouldn't family favorite recipes be preserved and cherished as much as our pictures and documents? I think there's a new project looming in my life. What are your family favorites?

 

 

The GRIP Experience

Last week I attended the Genealogy Research Institute of Pittsburgh, commonly know as GRIP. This was my second time to attend GRIP. Last summer I took the Intermediate Genealogy: Tools for Digging Deeper coordinated by Paula Stuart-Warren. Paula exposed the class to often obscure and overlooked resources using her own experiences as examples. This summer, I decided to jump into the deep end and take the class, Advanced Research Methods coordinated by Tom Jones. Let me be perfectly frank, by no means do I consider myself an advanced genealogist. But I felt that to increase my knowledge it was important to  challenge myself. And boy did I ever!

Tom is a professor, researcher, editor and writer for the NGS Quarterly, and a much sought after educator. His latest publication is Mastering Genealogical Proof, (Arlington, VA National Genealogy Society, 2013). Despite all these credentials, he is quite personable and a great speaker. He wants his students to learn and understand the who, what, where, when and why for analyzing information found in different records. He constantly amazed me how one could determine various generations just by using tax records. Or even better who was a step-child. Tom strongly suggests to his students to make charts whether it be an Excel type or time-line to analyze information. I ashamedly admit that I don't often do this, keeping everything in my head. Which of course leads to going over things multiple times because I failed to write down what I found or even what I didn't find; and where I looked. This is my biggest sin! How many times have I looked at the same record over and over again is simply too embarrassing to even think about. Between the class projects we did and the assigned nightly homework by Friday my brain was ready to explode from information overload! I was exhausted.

Despite the exhaustion, the week was stimulating, challenging and overwhelming and I loved every minute! It was a week to get reacquainted with friends I met last year and to make new ones. But mostly I came away with renewed energy and confidence that I could move forward with my research. Everyone should have the GRIP experience. And yes, I would do it again in a heart beat.

Friends and Neighbors

I love the website Fultonhistory.com. If you are not familiar with it, it is a wonderful site containing thousands of New York newspapers you can browse and it's FREE!. This site has been a goldmine for me as my mother's side of the family all came from western New York. So naturally when I wanted to learn more about my cousin Jessie this is the site I turned too.

But first things first, from her death certificate I know that Jessie was born in 1894 and she was the daughter of John Lynch and Mary Kelly.

Jessie Lynch Mulvihill Gruber my personal picture

Now I turn to Fultonhistory.com and I find the following:

• 1910 Jessie's brother James drowns trying to save a friend

  

  James and Jessie Lynch 1898 my personal picture

• 1914 Jessie opens her first hairdressing salon; 
• 1915 She marries Edward Mulvihill. Bertha Habberfield is her bridesmaid.

  

  Bertha Habberfield my personal picture

• 1916 Jessie travels to Philadelphia to attend a hairdressers fashion show
• 1919 Jessie attends Martha Harper Hairdressing School in Rochester, NY
• 1920 Jessie and her husband Edward are both sick, he does not recover and dies
• 1922 Jessie marries Charles Gruber; she also participates in a Knights of Columbus production of "Under Cover", Donald Grady is one of the participants.
• 1926 Jessie buys another hairdressing salon
• 1929 Jessie advertises her salon will exclusively offer Martha Harper's hair products and techniques.
• 1930's Jessie and her husband Charles buy and sell houses; take and extended trip out West and also take a trip to Niagara Falls.
• 1933 The Gruber house has a small house fire causing $50 worth of damage.
• 1942 Jessie's parents celebrate their 62nd Wedding Anniversary
• 1950 Jessie's father dies
• 1953/1954 tragically Jessie's husband dies suddenly in Dec. 31 1953 while she is in Penn Yan caring for her ill mother who also dies. A double funeral was held on Jan. 4, 1954.
• 1977 Jessie dies she was 83 years old

But the most interesting thing is, Bertha Habberfield was a dear friend of my grandmother Marie Catherine Sauerborn. There was a significant age difference between them but Nonnie as we called her, remained friends with Bertha all her life.

Marie Sauerborn and Bertha Habberfield my personal picture

Then there's Donald Grady. Donald marries Marie Catherine Sauerborn in 1922.  Donald had a love for the theatre, and preformed in several plays during High School and thereafter. My mother, Mary Charlotte Grady inherited this love of theatre and preformed in many productions in Salt Lake City, UT and with the Dramateurs in Contra Costa CO, CA where I grew up. It really is a small world.

Though I had inherited all these wonderful pictures, I did not know how all these people were connected. Now to try and figure out how the Sauerborn's of Geneva, NY knew the Habberfield's of Penn Yan, NY.

What's For Dinner?

Going through the box that came from the house of my 2nd cousins in Penn Yan, NY, I found an old recipe book called the "DAILEY BREAD". The book was complied by Mrs. Flora Jillett, with Revisions and Additions by the Guild of the Presbyterian Church. It was published in 1878 with additional printings in 1881, 1915 and 1927. The book actually belonged to another cousin, Jessie (Lynch Mulvihill) Gruber. The inside page indicates it was a gift to Jessie Gruber from Louise Kipp.

Jessie was married twice. Her first husband was Edward Mulvihill and they were married in June 1915. In 1917 Edward, aka Ned, is taken seriously ill.


Penn Yan Democrat, Friday, February 23, 1917

Edward Mulvihill and Jessie appear together in the 1920 U.S. Census. Edward dies however sometime after the census of 1920 and before 1925.  After his death, Jessie marries Charles Gruber, the date of their marriage is unknown. But Jessie appears in the Penn Yan Democart, April 17, 1925 as Mrs. Jessie Gruber.

In the preface of the book Mrs. Jillett writes: "...Many a wife in blissful ignorance of the first principles of physiological science, knows full well that the time to prefer requests to he lord is after she has regaled him upon his favorite dishes...Let no the food offered to any modern Adam be made an apology for his shortcomings. If fall he must, let him not be able to say, "It was the food she gave, of which I did eat."."

Was Louise trying to tell Jessie something or did she just have a great sense of humor? Charles survives Jessie's cooking and lives to be 60 years old. He dies suddenly of a heart attack on Dec. 31, 1953.

What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

Last summer I attended the Genealogy Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP). It was an amazing week full of great people and wonderful presentations by professional genealogists. The class I took was headed by Paula Stuart-Warren (Intermediate Genealogy). It was four fast paced days full of information and group discussions. By Friday my brain was fried! 

Because my experience was so positive I decided to sign up again. This time I chose the class being presented by Tom Jones (Advanced Methods). In the course description he said that he would have some "homework" for us to do prior to class. He also stated that there would be optional "homework" during the week as well. I thought, OK, how bad could it be.

WELL! This past week I received an email from Tom that had two attachments for us to read. He also strongly suggested we make a chart that lays out all the data. Again I thought that's not too bad I can do that...then yesterday ANOTHER email came with two more attachments. This time the attachments are from Rick Sayre who will also be presenting for the class. One of his attachments is 43 pages long! 

 I'm officially terrified! Thank goodness I have two weeks before I take off for Pittsburgh.

Genealogy Is More Than Dates

Recently, well actually it was back at the end of May, I was wanting to find out more about my southern family that came from Greenville, South Carolina. I have all their dates for birth, marriage and death but it seemed so stark. What was the rest of their story? 

I decided to take a stab at some records that I had previously overlooked, the record of the Freedmen's Bureau. But first I need to understand what was the purpose of the bureau. On www.Civilwarhome.com I found an article,"Freedman, The Freed Slaves of the Civil War". The article gives a brief history and explanation of this short lived bureau. The bureau was first conceived in 1863 and finally acted on by Congress in 1865. The war department in response to the Confiscation Act of 1862 felt there was a need to help the newly freed slaves become self-reliant. It's main purpose was to provide an education and provisions such as food, clothing and fuel. The funding for all this was to come from the Department of War. But it was also required to resolve disputes between the white employers and the newly freed men demanding fair wages. Surprisingly it was to last only one year.

While browsing the records on Familysearch.org for Freedmen's Bureau, I came across a letter to the local agent for the Abbeville District in South Carolina. It clearly denotes the exact portions of what the provisions are to be for adults and children and how often.

Portion of letter to Capt. C. R. Becker from William Stone, Bvt. Maj; FamilySearch.org; SC Freedman's Bureau Field Office Records 1865-1872, Abbeville Courthouse (agent) Roll 32, Letters received Mar 1866-Nov 1866; image 13 of 206

Reading on, the next letter had the term Vagrant Act.

Portion of letter from Capt. C.R.Becker to Bvt. Maj. William Stone; SC Freedman's Bureau Field Office Records 1865-1872, Abbeville Courthouse (agent) Roll 32, Letters received Mar 1866-Nov 1866; image 14 of 206

What? Never heard of that before. Even my friend Sandra Rumble was not familiar with that term. So I turned to Judy Russell, The Legal Genealogist.(www.legalgenealogist.com) Judy not only sent me an article to read, she then used my question for her blog that explained the who, what, where and why. ( See her blog post for May 26, 2015.)

In a nutshell, it appears if newly freed slaves were found not to be providing for his or her family, or were found to be gambling, peddling without a license or if their behavior could be considered disorderly they could be arrested, tried and sentenced to hard labor. Remember, the jury would have been the free white males, the very plantation owners they had just left. Can you imagine the resentment these men would have toward their former slaves or any other person of color?

I started out looking for anything that might tell me more about my family from South Carolina and ended up learning more about the prevailing attitudes and unfairness that existed after the Civil War. To understand who our ancestors were, how they may have thought and the issues they dealt with every, family historian/genealogist must understand the laws and records of the past. Genealogy is more than dates and names. Genealogy is a search for the joys, the grief, the triumphs, the struggles, the disappointments, the fairness and yes the unfairness that comes with every day life.

Thank you Judy for your help and insight.

Greenmount Cemetry

While in Quincy, something else that was also important for me to do, was to visit Greenmount Cemetery. This cemetery which was established 1875 is the resting place for the majority of my ancestors. It was my goal to get pictures of all their headstones. It was Kennedy's job to read the cemetery map and successfully navigate us to all the grave locations. Not only did she get me from one section to the next she managed to figure out exactly where I should stop and park. Her accuracy was outstanding! We always found the plots in a matter of minutes.

Kennedy with the cemetery map in hand, meeting her 3x Great-Grandparents
Henry and Pauline Schralla. Notice how close the car is!

 I was also hoping to "uncover" where my Great-Great Grandparents are buried. Sadly the church records only shows their burial date not the location. Then to add to the frustration, according to the cemetery manager, Kay Ginther, back in the late 1800's the cemetery only needed to know who owned the plot not who was buried there! The cemetery records have many unknowns but alas they have no dates! Kay was so nice, she checked other cemeteries and even looked at coroner inquest files to see if there was any record. Again, we hit a dead end.

One headstone we did find though was that of my Great-Grand Aunt, Hanna. She was only 11 months old when she and her parents arrived in the U.S. When she was 21 yrs. old, she marries August Wolf. Their marriage lasted only four short years when he dies suddenly. Hanna, who often went by Anna, was left with two small children ages 3 yrs and 6 months. Thankfully, though she found love again and marries Frank Schell in 1900.

Hanna Schralla Wolf Schell
On the top of her headstone her name is Anna

Finding the headstones of my relatives was bitter-sweet. I have many questions. So many questions that shall remain unanswered. But sharing the experience with my granddaughter was priceless.

It's Never Too Late!

At the beginning of June, I did something I have wanted to do for a very long time. With my 10 year old granddaughter Kennedy in tow, we headed to Quincy, IL. Quincy is the town that my paternal Great-great Grandparents immigrated to in 1860 from Stockheim, Germany. Quincy was where my Dad grew up and was the first place I took an airplane to when I was five years old. To this day, many relatives still reside there and this is why we went. 

 

To keep Kennedy engaged, I planned stops at the Cahokia Indian Mounds, the Gateway Arch and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and last but not least Hannibal, MO and the Mark Twain Caves. It was a joy to expose her to history and to see her absorb and enjoy the various stops. She even kept a journal and rated each days with stars!

 

But the best part was meeting our cousins. On Friday June 5, we met with Carol Kroner, Helen 'Sweets' Langan, and Shirley Deringer. Carol is my 2nd cousin, Sweets is  my 1st cousin 1x removed and Shirley is the daughter of my Great-Grand Uncle...not sure what that makes her, but she's family!

  

Carol Kroner, Helen 'Sweets' Langan and Shirley Deringer



Kennedy and I with our cousins

Lunch lasted for over two hours and was filled with lots of laughter and stories. I'm sure to the other patrons of the restaurant we were just a gregarious group of old friends. Little did they know, that only Sweets and Shirley really knew each other. Before saying good-bye we exchanged pictures, addresses and lots of hugs. We all agreed that this should have been done years ago.  I sneaked a peek at Kennedy's journal that night and she gave the day FIVE stars! I couldn't agree more, it was a great day.





The Thrill of the Hunt!

Last year I was proudly sworn into the Daughters of the American Revolution. Luckily for me, this was an easy task to do. My Grandmother, her sister and my Aunt, all on my Dad's family, had done all the leg work when they joined back in the 1950's. For my application all I had to do was prove my relationship to my Grandmother. It couldn't have been easier.

 

This past January, my Dad turned 95. For his birthday, I put together a family history/story. In doing all the research for this little book, I found that there could possibly be at least three more relatives who may have been involved in the Revolutionary War. But it wasn't till this past weekend that I looked into these ancestors.

 

I started with James Charles, my 5xGreat-Grandfather. Going to the DAR website, I find him listed as a Patriot but there was a problem. He has a bright red line next to his name that says: More on Back---See Comment. It seems no one has submitted proof that Sarah Halbert was his wife. This could be a problem, because I will need to prove that my 4xGreatGrandfather is the son Sarah and James Charles. So I turned to Familysearch.org to search for a marriage record or a will, anything that may list her and James Charles. I find a will that lists her as his wife and also the children by name, but it doesn't tell me her maiden name. Turning to Ancestry.com. I began by searching through other members' family trees. I find that the majority have Sarah Halbert as James's wife but they offer no proof. A few however, have that they were born and married in Virginia! How they know this I am not sure but it gave me another state to search on Familysearch.org. Sadly nothing was found.

 

Back to Ancestry.com, but instead of searching the family trees for James Charles, I started searching under Sarah Halbert. BINGO! Under one of the trees, just waiting for me to find, is an excerpt from a deed abstract book.  

Thankfully this person who posted this included the County name, Deed book and the page number. On Monday morning, I made a phone call to the Clerk of the Court office, Essex County, Virgina. I spoke with a lovely woman named Agnes. I explained that I live in PA and I was looking for a copy of a Deed and a Bond from 1754. Her only question was, “Do you have a book number?” . Thankgoodnes I did, and with that she put me on hold. Not more than a minute later she came back and said she had three pages for the Deed and Two pages for the Bond. She even read to me the part that clearly states that Sarah Halbert is the wife of James Charles.The fee for the copies would be $3.00. My total time on the phone was four minutes.

Today I received the copies and I couldn't be happier. This is the proof I was going to need:

 

I know it's a bit hard to see, but the third line down reads: "NOW if sarah the Eldest Daughter of said Joel Halbert now the wife of said James Charles...

This undeniably proves that Sarah Halbert was the wife of James Charles! The other exciting thing is, it gives me the names of Sarah's father, Joel and her younger sister Mary. I now know the name of my 6x Great-Grandfather! Looks like I have more research to do.

But for now, happily Supplemental DAR application, here I come.

Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling

March has been designated as National Women's History Month. For the past 35 years the National Woman's History Project has brought the contributions of women from around the nation to the forefront. The theme for 2015, as stated on the website: www.nwhp.org, is Weaving the Stories of Women Lives. “This years theme presents the opportunity to weave women's stories-individually and collectively-into the essential fabric of our nation's history.”

What a powerful statement, weaving the stories of women back into our history . How often has society overlooked the women, from all classes,who have made contributions in our lives? Sadly it's numerous, shamefully too numerous.

I'm a member of a book club and recently we read a wonderful book, “Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy” by Karen Abbott. It's a story of four women during the Civil War who actively spied and fought for the cause they so heartily believed in. Regardless of their station in society, they risked everything from family to their very lives to support their troops. These women were fearless determined fighters in their own way. One changed her identity and kept it hidden so that she could fight side by side with the men. Another used her wealthy position to entertain Generals to garnish any information that might pass from tongues made loose from too much wine. This is a fascinating story of four young women, Yes, young women they were from 17 years old to no older than mid 20's! And apparently they were not alone. Many women spied and fought during the war. I had no idea. I highly recommend this book , it's a good read.

 

Then there's the Ruth Faith. Ruth is the 6xGreat Grandmother of my friend Sandy Rumble. Ruth was a widow who, as legend goes, donated her deceased husband's clothes and saddle to the troops. But that wasn't enough for Sandy who wanted to join DAR through a woman's contribution. It turns out that she also paid supply taxes, which is just the type of proof DAR wants. Because of this record Sandy was admitted to the DAR last spring. But even though it isn't provable, that Ruth gave her husdand's clothes, saddle and probably boots to a soldier in need, it was a selfless act. Wouldn't it be wonderful if there is a diary out there waiting to be found in which a soldier had written how the Widow Faith gave him her husbands clothes. It could happen.

 

And then last but not least, there's my grandmother, Miriam Green Schralla. My grandparents met in Tallahassee, Florida n 1917 and married in 1918. Shortly after my Dad was born in 1920, they move back to Quincy, IL where my grandfather was from. There she went to a local business school and learned typing, shorthand and everything else a good secretary needs to know. Her first and only job after graduating was with Adams County Treasurers office. This was sometime in the 1930's, when it was definitely a man's world. For the next 30 years, she worked and learned everything she could about the treasures office. Then in 1953 the county treasurer resigned his position to take a job with the state. The county commissioners appointed Grandma to fill out the unexpired term. In a letter to the editor from the Quincy Herald-Whig, Sunday, August 9, 1953 Lula Bailey wrote:

“Thirty-one years ago a little lady from Georgia began work in the county treasurer's office and worked hard to learn the many details of the office, and she went to work to learn it with vim and vigor because she loved the work and the people she worked with and for. Elected county treasurers came and went, but she kept on in the background, and every year mastered more and more of the work so that she had her fingertips on every phase of the work done in the office...her name became a symbol of efficiency, politics being entirely in the back...It doesn't surprise us who know her that she should be the choice of the supervisors to fill out the unexpired term of the county treasurer, made necessary by the resignation of E.W. Thompson...Honor to whom honor is due. Just a woman who has labored faithfully and well not seeking anything but the joy of work well done.”

 

And it doesn't stop there, another small article that was cut out of the paper, so sadly I don't know which publication it is, states; “...When E. W. Thompson resigned to accept a state position, the board gave proper recognition to the woman who has served longer and done more than any other to make the treasure's office function smoothly, It was a deserved honor.”

The Supervisors by a vote of 21-17 appointed her! She won out over the Deputy Sheriff . She is the first woman to hold this office for Adams County and only the third in the state!

Is it any wonder then that in 1954 she announces that she will seek a full term as county treasurer.

  

 

 

She wins the election, of course, with over half the votes. Out of 24,525 counted votes she received 13,943 while her opponent, Robert (Red) Bickhaus only obtained 9,534 votes....I think I hear the shattering of that glass ceiling. How cool, right? And I can't help wonder if the current treasurer, Peggy Crim realizes she has my grandmother to thank for her being in her job?

 

I didn't grow up near my Grandma so I hardly knew her but I sure wish I could talk with her now.

 

 

Hidden Treasures

My Mother was an avid antique hound. She especially loved hunting for marble-top wash stands. She managed to buy five very different ones. Intending one for each of us. Each stand is unique and beautiful in their own right. I can't help but wondering when looking at them, who used them what joys and misery did they witness.

I have my own antiques. One is an East Lake washstand, circa 1880, that I bought in Chanute, KS. I love it! It's hand carved leaf design is lovely and it has the original hardware which is really nice.

 

 

But I've always gravitated towards wicker rockers, I have two. One came from a house that my former mother-in-law and her sister inherited. It's huge! With a wide seat, back and arms, I've not seen one like it before. The other one, which I bought in PA is just the opposite. It's very petite and has a geometric design on the back. I don't know how old these chairs are but that doesn't matter to me. I like them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also have a set of Victorian chairs from my brother-in-law Fred. They belonged to his Grandmother. He remembers being told that his Grandfather brought them to El Paso, TX from New Orleans, LA. Fred's brother died a few years back and the chairs were actually his, but Fred and my sister Lynn didn't want them. My mouth dropped! I immediately asked, if I could have them. Without a second thought, Fred said sure. So before he could change his mind, out to my car they went. Wouldn't it be nice to know the story behind these chairs? It's a shame how some of our stories are lost and all we have left is a piece of furniture or an undated, unidentified photo.

When my son's Dad and I were first married we lived it a great flat in Oakland, CA. I don't remember how I found this place but I'm really glad I did. When I went to look at it, it was full of the previous renters furniture. There was a beautiful red velvet Victorian couch, a Zenith radio, and a wonderful yellow Formica kitchen table with chairs set. When I agreed to rent the place I was in need of a kitchen table so I asked how much for the table. The landlord said $15! Perfect. Feeling brave I asked about the radio and you won't believe this she said, “Oh that thing, you can just have that!” The radio is beautiful and it still works! I think it's from the late 1930's to early 1940's. Okay so technically it's not an antique but as far as technology goes it certainly is! And what I love too is that my youngest son wants it. But as for the lovely Victorian couch, I could just kick myself for not taking that as well.

 

When my cousins (1st cousins, 2x removed) in Penn Yan, NY died, besides the photo albums that I previously wrote about, I took some furniture. They had a lovely Duncan Phyfe dining set, a mahogany china cabinet, a Maddox secretary desk, circa 1920 and a Windsor chair with a rush seat, circa 1920. I love the desk and chair. The desk and chair had been well used . The chair seat in fact was literally falling apart and I recently I had the seat redone and it looks fantastic. The desk is full of scratches and if the light hits it just right, you can see words where someone pressed down too hard as they were writing. I especially love the secret compartments where one can “hide” their treasures.

All these pieces of furniture must have wonderful stories behind them, especially the desk. The girls were school teachers during a time when Yates County, NY was still dotted with one room school houses. I can just see them taking turns using the desk for grading and lesson planning. Can you imagine the conversations they must have had regarding their students? Who was doing well, who was being a nuisance or who needed extra help.

Something else that was wonderful about this desk was what was hiding inside. Inside one of the drawers were two handwritten charts. Each one was for our ancestor the Roche/Roach family. Apparently the girls, would challenge each other to write down the family tree starting in Ireland and ending in present day!. It's pure gold. Not only do they have siblings written down, but who they married and the children they had and who they married! I'm even listed! I can't put enough explanation points to emphasize how exciting this was to find. Though no dates are given it certainly gives me a starting point and not to mention all the maiden names! Gold, pure gold! Downside is it's written in pencil so it really needs to be protected. But what a riot. How competitive these two sisters must have been. I'm not sure who was the winner as each one looks pretty much to be the same. But that's not all, there also were some individual family pages. These pages that were all stapled together and listed in a bit more detail names and dates of birth, marriage and death and where, and when if known

. Unfortunately they don't have any supporting documentation but just the same it's a starting point.

The Girls Family Challenge

 

 

Mildred and Carrie Adams with my Mom, Mary Charlotte in the middle

Thanks Mildred and Carrie, you two must have been quite the characters.

Living The Dream!

Back at the end of January my friend Dana Leeds, The Enthusiastic Genealogist, wrote in her blog about telling our own story.  She reminds us that our stories are just as important as those of our ancestors. In researching our past we often acquire tunnel vision and fail to make notes of our own momentous moments. Dana’s story about her childhood was charming, and something I’m sure her daughter and eventual grandchildren will enjoy.

This got me thinking about my husband and his story of how he came to the United States. My husband grew up in India. When he was born, India was still under British rule. His father was a policeman and about 18 years older than his mother, who was a mere child of only 14 years when he was born. Despite the fact that his father was employed, their life was a struggle. There were often times when there was not enough money for food. Every rupee and paise needs to be accounted for.  Somehow Raman manages to get through school, even graduating from college and even gets a Master’s degree in Physics. At age 19, he lands a prestigious job as a junior research fellow at the National Aeronautics’ Lab, Bangalore  earning 250 rupees a month.

The Jayamahal Road Building was actually a stable of the Mysore Maharaja's Palace

 There he works directly under the director and founder of the lab Dr. P. Nilakantan. He was rich! He was on top of the world! But it was short lived, for his father suddenly drops dead. His carefree world collapses as he becomes the sole provider for his mother, grandmother and three siblings.

His job at the Nat’l. Aeronautics Lab is not as copacetic as he hoped. Co-workers are jealous and are full of resentment of his position. But disaster strikes here too, in 1964 the Director dies. Now suddenly his job is in jeopardy. The writing is on the wall as his research slows down. No one was willing to take him on to help continue the work. Something had to change. His only hope and dream was to somehow get to the US continue his education and earn more money.

But this takes money too. Applications to any university have a fee and then there’s postage. All this added expense was difficult to come up with. It also took time. Raman applies to Harvard, Princeton, and John Hopkins and he was accepted at all of them. But none of them offered any stipend or scholarship.

Call it Karma, call it Fate or the alignment of the stars, we all know life can change in a heartbeat. One night when he was visiting a fellow co-worker he noticed an application in the wastepaper basket. It was for Brown University.  His friend’s parents refused to let him travel to the US for further studies. The reason behind their refusal is that for the Braham class of India, it is taboo to travel across the ocean. But Raman put that thought behind him and asked if he could have the application. Armed with renewed hope, he sends in the application with a letter pouring out reasons why the application fees should be waived. And then he waits.

Brown University in 1964 was celebrating its bicentennial.  In celebration of this momentous occasion the University has extra money to give to well deserving applicants.  Raman was one of those lucky applicants. He was given a stipend of $163 a month and tuition was waived!

Somehow he manages to get the money for a passport and airfare and with just $7.00 in his pocket, he leaves India. Fifty-one years later with a PhD, one son, a lovely daughter-in-law, a handsome grandson and a wonderful second marriage with me, he continues to live the dream!

                                   And of course he lives happily ever after.

Behind Every Dark Cloud

In the book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People, by Harold Kushner his philosophy basically is, it happens it just plain happens. It's part of our lives. We can deal with it or let the event overwhelm us, and paralyze us into despair.

 

About nine days ago, my computer crashed! And I mean crashed. Thankfully, my husband is a retired university professor and  the IT department is willing to help. Hopefully they can do their magic and get things running. Sadly though I already know that I've lost ALL my family documents and photos. No I did not have a backup.

 

When this reality set in, I assure you, there was a ROYAL melt down. Can you blame me? Years of work gone, just gone is a matter of seconds. I had three choices: 1) blame everybody else or 2) curl up and never touch a computer again or 3) figure out  if I had a flash drive or a CD that had some of these items. Well I could not blame anyone else. It was clearly my fault for not having a backup. Option 2 was never an option. But option 3 offered a glimmer of hope.

 

That glimmer of hope, that sliver lining appeared when I remembered that I had three flash drives that at various times I had copied over documents and photos from an old computer. Though this isn't an actual backup it does have some of the valuable documents and pictures.

 

Sadly I guess this means there's a Do Over in my future whether I wanted to or not. But more importantly what is the lesson I learned, BACKUP, BACKUP,  BACKUP!

Now What?

Now that things are easier to find, the question arises do I do a complete do over as Thomas MacEntee suggests? I really hate the idea of “tossing” things aside and starting over it seems so overwhelming. It occurred to me that perhaps the next logical step would be to figure out what do I have and what am I missing. Luckily for me I have Sandra Rumble’s wonderful software GenDetective. Yes, Sandy is my friend; no she didn’t ask me to do this nor am I an employee of Rumblesoft, just to be clear.

GenDetective is a wonderful tool to help you visualize your family research plus it is easy and fun to use. Anyone can use it as it’s compatible with FTM, RoootsMagic, Legacy and Ancestry. All you have to do is make a GEDcom file, export it to GenDetective click on Analyze My Family and your done!  With this software you can run all kinds of reports that help you see your progress in your journey of researching your family history. From bar graphs, footsteps and maps your progress becomes tangible.

 

For example, this screenshot shows me who is missing a birth date, birth location and if I have full names for the parents. The little foot prints at the top show me I’m not too bad. But clearly there is info missing as indicated by the purple, pink and blue colors on the graph. This report can also be run for more specific things such as immigration, census, military, and occupation. You can make it as detailed as you want. It also becomes a wonderful companion when planning a trip to a courthouse. Sandy also has a whole section devoted to preparing for a trip. Guiding you through the five w’s-who, what, what, where and how.

But the report I love the most is, My Family: Research Progress for …and you pick your ancestor.

This partial screen shot shows me what I have for one particular ancestor, my 2x Great-Grandfather Joel D. Charles. According to the little footie’s at the top I have 8 out of 10. Not bad! The report tells me I need to find his occupation, a burial date, an obituary, a will or probate records and a cemetery marker. Life after organizing my files will now make it easier for me to find the missing information. I know, for example that I have a picture of his headstone.  I also have an index for his probate records which will help with searching on Familysearch.org.  Armed with this new courage, going back to my RootsMagic or FTM or even Ancestry.com to fill in the missing information will be easy. Doing a complete do-over is daunting to say the least and I’m not sure I’m up to the task. But filling in the missing information one ancestor at a time is certainly a more do-able approach for me.

Check it out at GenDetective.com.