I have several favorite pictures of my ancestors, and this is one of them.
I love this picture of my grandmother, Helen Bowers and her sister Frances Bowers. There was no date on this photo, but I am guessing it was around 1904. Frances is sitting and Helen is the one standing. Helen and Frances were born 14 months apart. I think they are such cute little girls and I love them both. Helen and Fran stayed close to each other their whole lives even though they led very different lives.
Helen married at 25 years old to Fred Kaiser. They had two children Dorothy and Russell. In between Dorothy and Russell, Helen had a miscarriage and they lost a baby Richard at two weeks old. Russell was born premature and according to Helen, he was so small she could hold him in the palm of her hand. Russell survived and died at 80 years old. Fred and Helen lived in Chicago until around 1935 when they bought a house in Villa Park, Illinois. Helen stayed home and took care of the house and children while Fred went to work. She played pinochle with the same group of ladies for many years. She belonged to the sewing circle at church and they made things for charity. Her hands were always busy crocheting afghans, sweaters and many other things. She was a good cook and made everything from scratch. She canned fruits and vegetables grown in their yard. She loved gardening and had beautiful flower gardens with help from Fred. She made everyone feel welcome in their home. All holiday dinners were at her house, and she did most of the cooking. She had two stoves one in the kitchen of course and one in the basement. On holidays she would run up and down the stairs between the two stoves cooking a turkey in one and a goose in the other. She and Fred were married 58 years until his death in 1980. Helen died at a few months later at 82 years old.
Fran also married at 25 years old to William Beck and in 1932 she gave birth to a daughter Patricia. A few years later, she and William divorced. Fran lived in Chicago all her adult life. She raised in daughter alone and worked to survive. They moved every few years from one apartment to another apartment in Chicago. Fran sewed for a living, working in factories that mass produced clothing. In her later years, she worked in a bridal shop making wedding dresses and formals. Fran wasn’t much of a cook, but she sure could sew. She made many dresses for me. Fran loved to shop and she would find some unusual things. When she visited us, she would bring us things like alligator meat, rattlesnake meat, frog legs, etc. She also knew how to throw parties. She would come out for my birthday parties and bring prizes, party favors, and decorate the house. She helped with Halloween parties too. She was strong and a worker. She worked until her death at 71 years old.
Helen and Frances talked on the phone almost daily, and in her younger years Fran and her daughter Pat would visit my grandmother on weekends. They would come out to Villa Park on the train either on Friday night or Saturday morning and go back on Sunday after the family dinner. Helen lived ten years after Fran’s death. She missed their daily phone calls and her confidant. They were truly sisters forever.
There have been several breakthrough moments throughout the years. Today I am focusing on this breakthrough moment because the story of my ancestor’s life is tragic.
Back in 2007 I sent for my great-grandfather, Carl Desens, death certificate from Cook County, Illinois and it listed his parents as John Desens and Henrietti Gressier.[1] I looked all over for John Desens, but there were too many to narrow it down to my John Desens without more information about my John.
Carl along with his wife and children settled in Forest Park in 1891.[2] According to my father, they went to St. John Lutheran Church in Forest Park, IL. I went there to find my grandmother, Helen Desens, baptism record and while there I copied the records of all the Desens I could find. I noticed on the baptism record for one of their children listed a Johann Desens, Herman Desens, and Bertha Matthews as Godparents.[3] Was this Johann Desens, Carl’s father? And could Herman Desens be a brother of Carl’s? I assumed they probably lived in Forest Park or nearby, and I looked for them in this area with no luck.
I was having no luck on Ancestry or Family Search back then. For some reason I googled their names. For Herman Desens I found an obituary on Clark County Wisconsin History Page, “The latest victim of careless handling of guns is Herman Desens, a man about thirty years of age who lived with his father across from Fred Zell’s place west of town (Greenwood, Clark County). Friday evening, Oct. 18, 1901, as the two were about to leave the clearing where they had been working, the young man went after his shot gun, which he had left nearby standing against a log. He seized the gun by the muzzle and drew it toward him, and in doing so the hammer cocked, discharging the load of one barrel into his breast. The father hearing the shot, looked up, but noticing his son standing thought nothing of the shot and stooped to his work, when he heard his son give an exclamation and saw him start for the house. The man only went a few yards when he dropped to the ground dead. The funeral occurred at the cemetery on the West Side Sunday afternoon. Deceased, with his father, came to Greenwood about two years ago and have lived together on their small clearing.” [4]
I started looking around the Clark County Wisconsin History website and found a death index that listed Herman’s death as October 15, 1901, and John’s death as July 16, 1907.[5] I also searched all the cemetery’s and found the graves of John and Herman Desens at the United Church of Christ East Cemetery.[6]
I sent to the Wisconsin Historical Society for John’s death record hoping the informant would be a name I recognized linking him to my grandfather Carl. When I received it, there was no informants listed, however, I was surprised to see that the cause of death was multiple stab wounds to the chest.[7] This sent me back to google and the first thing I found was an article from a book GreenwoodThe Hub of Clark County (1853 – 1907)[8] “Much later, Zell and Dazen, neighbors, who lived three and one-half miles west of town, quarreled and fought; Dazen with a knife, which he cut Zell in the face, on the hands and wrists. They were both seriously injured and were brought to the North Side Hotel, then operated by Gene Cummings. Both were put into the same room where they could glare at each other. By the doctor’s orders they were to be kept in bed, but Dazen got up and started for home and the next morning was found dead, just outside his own yard.”[9] They do not give a first name, and the last name is spelled different.
Next article that I found was from the Neillsville Times and it read as follows: “Peter Desens, who was cut in a fight with his neighbor, Fred Zell near Greenwood (Clark Co., Wis.), died last Saturday as a result of his wounds. Zell is in the hospital Marshfield and is in precarious condition and death may come to him also.[10]
There are of course two versions to the fight. Zell claims that Desens was the aggressor and that the fight resulted after an altercation over some cattle. Zell says that Desens was standing near the gate at the Desens home and that the old gentleman called to him as he was passing. As he stood with his resting on the gate, Desens suddenly drew a knife and cut him across the hand, severing the cords. He also was badly cut about the face and chest.
Desen claimed before his death, that Zell grabbed him by the throat and that he drew the knife in self-defense.”
It will be a pretty hard matter to determine who was the aggressor in the fight, and if Zell is brought into court his plea will probably be self-defense.” In this article the first name is Peter. At this point, I did not know if this was John Desens or not. Zell was name in Herman’s Obituary and again in these two articles. There was no Peter Desens in the Clark County Death Index.
I went back to my original notes that I took when I interviewed my father back in 1979 and I had written down that some relatives were killed in Wisconsin by Indians. This led me to believe I was on the right track, but they were not killed by Indians.
A trip to Clark County to get more information was required to find out if John was indeed Carl’s father. In 2014 my husband and I made the trip and my goal was to:
1. Visit the Clark County Courthouse in Neillsville to find the following
A. Will or probate for John Desens – Death Date 7/6/1907
B. Land records for land – Came there in approx. 1899.
C. Court record of stabbing incident with Fred Zell.
2. Find the United Church of Christ East Cemetery.
3. Find Farm located 1 ½ – 3 miles west of Greenwood.
My first stop at the Court House in Neillsville, Wisconsin was the Probate Office. Since he owned land, I thought there should be a probate file. I was told that the old probate files had been transferred to the Wisconsin State Archives in Madison, but she was able to tell me that there is a file and gave me the number. Next, I went to the Circuit Clerk to see if there was a criminal file for the neighbor that killed him. I was not allowed to search; they will search for me at their convenience. I filled out a form and paid $5.00 for the search. My next stop was the land office. The lady in this office was great! She showed me to the Grantor and Grantee books and let me search. I knew his death date, so I started with the Grantor books for 1907 and found the sale of the farm in Sept of 1907. I did not recognize the name of the man who purchased it. I copied down the information and went back to clerk with the information of the book and page number the title should be in. She had to take to the basement of the courthouse. The bookshelves were covered with plastic tarps, she pulls a tarp back, pulls out the book and opens to the page. I was able to write down the legal description. Next to that title was one for his son, and I wrote down that legal description too. It appeared that they each owned 40 acres next to one another. The clerk asked me if I would like to know where the farms were today. She anticipated my next question! We went back upstairs to look at the current plot book. By the legal description we were able to find the farms and the roads that they are on today.
My husband and I drove out to the farm, and I was able to get some pictures and see what it looks like today. Then we went to find the cemetery where he is buried. I was hoping he had a headstone so I could find his grave and he did, but his son who is buried right next to him did not. The church he went to is close by the cemetery. Both church and cemetery are close to his farm.
I sent to the state archives for his probate file and while waiting for that to come, I received the court records of the stabbing incident.[11] The court records were an interesting read and gave me a better insight into how it all occurred and what happened afterwards, but no clue to his relationship to me. Finally, the probate records came, and this was my breakthrough moment because after several years of searching it listed my great grandfather Carl as one of John’s heirs.[12]
Today, the probate file is available online at Ancestry.com. My search would have been a lot less complicated if it was online back then.
[1] Certificate of Death for Carl Desens ,12 June 1921, Registration Number 1050, State of Illinois, Department of Public Health, Division of Vital Statistics, County of Cook, City of Chicago.
[2] Forest Park Pioneers, abstracted from the book Forest Park Welcomes you to its 100th Birthday Party 1856-1956 by Ellen Cannon. Found this in the McHenry County Genealogy Section at McHenry Public Library District in McHenry Illinois. Call # Illinois, Cook Co. 977.3 Local History
[3] Baptism Record for Henrich Herman Desens, 21 April 1895, St John Congregational Book 1887-1905, page 85, #1888 28. St John Lutheran Church, Forest Park, Cook Co., Illinois.
[7] Death Record for John Desens, 6 July 1907, Pre- 1907 Wisconsin Death Record, County of Clark, Vol 1, Page 428. State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Microfilm room, 816 State Street, Madison, Wisconsin.
[8]Greenwood the Hub of Clark County, Compiled 1934 by the Greenwood Women’s Club, Transcribed 2001 by Janet Schwarze. This complete manuscript with illustrations, as well as the follow-on volume “1934 to the Present”, is available in paperback for $16 from: The Branstitter’s Museum, South Main Street, Greenwood, WI 54436. All proceeds go to this non-profit museum. Compiled by Members of the Woman’s Club, Essalyth Andrews, Gladys Arends, Hazel Flatz, Ingebor Shields, Lillie Heilman, exofficio. Found on website Clark County Wisconsin History. Found on website Clark County Wisconsin History Greenwood, Clark Co., Wisconsin History
[10] Obituary for Peter (John) Desens 11 July 1907. Neillsville Times (Neillsville, Clark County, Wisconsin) 11 July 1907.
[11] I received copies of court documents from the Clerk of the Court, 517 Court Street Rom 405 Neillsville, WI 54456 for an incident involving Fred Zell and John Desens. There is no citation for them from Clerk of the Court.
[12]Probate Case Files, Ca. 1873-1917, and Beginning With File No. 2699, Ca. 1900-1917, 1918 (See Film Inventory Below); General Probate Index; Author: Wisconsin. County Court (Clark County).
My theory in progress is that I think my 2nd great grandmother Alexena Frazier’s parents are Hugh Fraser and Elizabeth McBean. I do not have paper proof that I would like to prove my theory. Maybe if I was able to travel to Ontario, Canada and search some archives, I might find a record of her parents and perhaps her birth. All I have been able to do is search online and where she lived in the United States. Here is what I have found to date.
According to her death certificate and her obituary she was born in 1847 to a David Frazier and Catherine McBean in Nassagaweya, Halton, Ontario, Canada.[1]I have been unable to find a Catherine McBean and David Frazier married to each other and old enough to be her parents in Canada.
I found a David Frazier born in 1832 [2] that would make him 15 when she was born. He is most likely not old enough to be her father but maybe a brother? According to his marriage certificate, he married a woman named Mary Robertson in 1860, and he lists his father as Hugh Fraser and mother as Elizabeth McBean.[3] McBean was the last name listed on Alexena’s death certificate, but the first name was Catherine. Knowing that the information on death certificates can be wrong, I thought this was a good possibility that Hugh and Elizabeth might be her parents. Another clue is that Alexena named her one daughter, Elizabeth. On David Fraser’s death certificate in 1914, his father is listed as David Fraser and mother as Elizabeth McBean.[4] Now the father’s name is David not Hugh. Are David and Hugh the same person? Maybe he was David Hugh Fraser or Hugh David Fraser. This is where my search for David Fraser born 1832 stopped.
In searching for Alexena, I found her in the 1861 Canadian Census living with Isabella Thomas nee Davidson and Edward Thomas.[5] Edward Thomas is the brother of George McK Thomas who is married to Isabella nee Fraser.[6] Isabella Fraser’s parents are Hugh Fraser and Elizabeth McBean.[7] Could Isabella nee Fraser be Alexena’s sister?
Recently, I found a family tree online at Ancestry.com that has a Catherine Frazer born in 1837 and her parents are listed as Hugh Fraser and Elizabeth McBain. Catherine was born in Ontario, Canada in 1837[8] and married William Sexton in 1862.[9] Catherine died in 1922 in Michigan.[10] I found this tree by looking at my DNA matches. The woman who posted the tree is my 4th to 6th cousin. This is more proof that I am somehow related to Hugh Frazer and Elizabeth McBean.
In continuing to search for Catherine, I found her on the 1880 United States Federal Census and she had a son, James born in Illinois.[11] Next, I searched James Sexton and found that he was born in Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois in 1866.[12] This places Catherine Fraser Sexton in Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois in 1866 around the same time that Alexena came to Ottawa, Illinois. I did a search on the surname Sexton in Ottawa, Illinois between 1850 – 1870 and found a Mary A. Sexton age 18 on the 1860 Census keeping house for an Octavius Hanbury age 35 living in Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois.[13] Next, I found a William Sexton (possibly Catherine’s husband) listed on the 1865 Illinois State Census in Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois.[14] Unfortunately the 1865 Illinois State Census does not list every name, just head of household. Right above William Sexton’s name on the 1865 Census was Octavius Hanbury.[15] This sent me on a search for Octavius Hanbury and found a Civil War Draft Registration Record for Octavius for the city of Ottawa, Illinois recorded 27 July 1863, and a few names above Octavius’ was a William Frazer born in Scotland age 22.[16] Could this be a relative of Alexena’s? I ran into a dead end and did not find any more information on William Frazer.
It looks like Alexena and Catherine are connected and were in Ottawa at the same time 1865 – 1866. I am guessing Catherine is Alexena’s sister.
In 1922 Catherine dies in Michigan and there is no mention of a sister Alexena in her obituary.[17] In 1924 Alexena dies in Ottawa, Illinois and there is no mention of a sister Catherine in her obituary.[18]
I am 95 % sure that Hugh/David Fraser and Elizabeth McBean are Alexena’s parents. Perhaps, the informant on the Alexena’s death certificate mixed up her brother and sister with her parents, however I still want paper proof that Hugh and Elizabeth are Alexena’s parents.
If my theory turns out to be true, I am wondering if there was some kind of feud between Alexena and the rest of her family. I am thinking this because her daughter was the informant on the death certificate and didn’t get the names of her parents right. If they were close, the daughter would know that Catherine and David were her brother and sister.
I will continue to search for the documents to prove my theory.
Note: Fraser was spelled several ways in my research Fraser, Frazer, Frazier and McBean is sometimes spelled McBain.
[1] State of Illinois, Department of Public Health, Division of Vital Statistics, Springfield, Illinois, Certificate of Death, Registration no. 37.
[2] Ancestry.com. Ontario, Canada, Deaths and Deaths Overseas, 1869-1952 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.Original data: Archives of Ontario. Registrations of Deaths, 1869-1942 (MS 935, reels 1-694), Archives of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Death record for David Fraser 1914.
[3]Ontario, Canada, County Marriage Registers, 1858-1869 [database on-line] Nassagaweya, Halton, Ontario. Marriage Record of David Fraser and Mary Robinson 21 March 1860.
[4] Ancestry.com. Ontario, Canada, Deaths and Deaths Overseas, 1869-1952 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.Original data: Archives of Ontario. Registrations of Deaths, 1869-1942 (MS 935, reels 1-694), Archives of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Death record for David Fraser 1914.
[5] Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Census Returns For 1861; Roll: C-1031. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1861 Census of Canada [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009.
[8] Ontario, County Marriage Registers, 1858-1869,” database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2CB-WYPH : (31 March 2017), Wm Sexton and Catharine Fraser, 06 Jan 1862; citing Elgin, Rideau Lakes, Leeds and Grenville, Ontario, Canada, Archives of Ontario, Toronto; FHL microfilm 1,030,055.
[10] Ancestry.com. Michigan, Death records, 1867 – 1950 [database on-line], Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Death Records, Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics, Lansing, Michigan.
[12] Ancestry.com. Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867-1952 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867–1952. Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics.
[13] Year: 1860; Census Place: Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois; Roll: M653_196; Page: 509; Family History Library Film: 803196.Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
[14] Illinois State Archives; Springfield, Illinois; Illinois State Census, 1865; Archive Collection Number: 103.010; Roll Number: 2179; Line: 24. Source Information: Ancestry.com. Illinois, State Census Collection, 1825-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.
[16] National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Consolidated Lists of Civil War Draft Registration Records (Provost Marshal General’s Bureau; Consolidated Enrollment Lists, 1863-1865); Record Group: 110, Records of the Provost Marshal General’s Bureau (Civil War); Collection Name: Consolidated Enrollment Lists, 1863-1865 (Civil War Union Draft Records); NAI: 4213514; Archive Volume Number: 1 of 5. Source Information: Ancestry.com. U.S., Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
At the turn of the 20th century, my grandmother Helene Margarete Augusta Desens came into this world. She was the youngest of eight children born to Carl and Augusta Desens. She was born and grew up in Forest Park, Illinois. She attended St. John Lutheran Church and school. I never had the privilege of knowing my paternal grandmother because she died six months before I was born. For some reason, I always felt connected to her. As a little girl, I would visualize her looking down from heaven and watching me. My father never told many stories of his mother except that she had a great sense of humor and could be sarcastic. I wanted to know my grandmother like I knew my maternal grandmother. My grandmother suffered many hardships and died at a young age. I think that is why her story means so much to me.
In January of 1919 she anxiously awaited the return of her boyfriend to come home from France after serving in WWI. Two months later, Helen married George Manfroid the day before her 19th birthday. Near the end of 1919 she gave birth to a baby boy, George, Jr. For the next 10 years, life was pretty good for them. My grandfather work and she stayed home with their little boy, George. They lived in Forest Park among both of their families. They visited back and forth with family and friends. My grandfather bought a gas station and they bought a house in Elmhurst, IL where her sister Annie lived. Life was good!
Then the great depression happened. It hit them hard. My father always talked about it. He was only 10 when it happened, yet it made a big impression on him. My grandfather lost his business, and he had a hard time finding work. They lost their big house in Elmhurst, but somehow, they managed to buy a smaller house in Elmhurst. The house had a living room, dining room, kitchen and one bedroom and one bathroom. My father slept in the living room on the sofa.
My grandmother worried about where they were going to get their next meal. Sometimes they ate bananas for Sunday dinner. In 1933, during height of the great depression Helen gave birth to another son Donald. He was born mentally challenged. I often wondered if my grandmother did not get the right nourishment during her pregnancy. As he grew older, he could not feed himself, dress himself, or go to bathroom on his own. He was non-verbal and my father said that Donnie could be a handful. Helen became his full-time caretaker. I can’t image how she handled this alone while my grandfather tried to find employment and finally did with the American Can Company. She had a big family so maybe her sisters pitched in and helped her. My father was 14 when Donnie was born so maybe he helped after school. Although, my father left high school when he was 17 to find work to help support the family. I don’t know how much help he was after he started working. When Donnie was about 11 years old, Helen was diagnosed with Parenchymatous Nephritis (kidney disease and failure). She suffered with this for 4 years. Image having to take care of her son Donnie and at the same time she was sick. Treatment for this during the 1940’s was dietary modifications mostly milk and low salt diet to control Edema, bedrest and warm clothing, antibiotics for secondary infections. She could not rest when she had a son that needed her. I don’t know if she followed the dietary recommendations or had antibiotics. After four years of suffering, she succumbed to the disease. She was hospitalized over Labor Day weekend with Uremia and was there for five days. On the fifth day she died at 46 years old leaving behind a husband and two sons. During the five days, the doctor never came to see her until the day she died. My father thought the doctor and the hospital didn’t do enough to save her. They just let her lie there and die. After that, my father would have nothing to do with doctors or hospitals for a long time. Donnie was 13 years old and still needed his mother. I wrote about Donnie’s story on my blog several years ago you can find it at Meeting Uncle Donnie. As it turned out, Donnie can understand more than he is able to verbalize. He did manage to tell me one time, “Ma is with God.”
Knowing about the hardships she faced in her short life is why her story means so much to me. We all face some hardships in our lives, and I certainly have in my long life. Mine were different than hers, but I feel I can relate to her. Maybe someday I will get to meet her in Heaven for the first time.
I am so tired of finding my ancestors including my mother and brother attached to the wrong family trees. When another person searches for ancestors and they come across an error filled family tree they will be led down the wrong path. As a genealogist this bothers me.
Below is an example of a family tree I recently came across with my ancestor erroneously attached to it. This person had sources on some of the events, but not all. Most of the sources are indexes, and you can’t see the originals. In the cases where you can look at the original, it is obvious that this is not their ancestor. When you do genealogy, you have to look at original records and study them. A timeline will show the mistakes in your family tree. In one case she has children born 8 months apart and another 14 days apart. Also, two different dates of arrival, and marrying the same woman two year apart.
For reference: My ancestor is Konrad John Reinhardt (2nd great grandfather) born February 18, 1852 in Nusselock, Baden, Germany
Below is the one I recently came across. I put and asterisk next to my ancestors, and notes about the entry.
Konrad Reinhard (different person not my ancestor)
1851 June 9 – Born in Neuenhiem, Heidelberg, Baden, Germany My Notes: As you can see this man has a different date of birth and a different birth place than my ancestor.
1851 June 22 – Baptized Neuenhiem, Amtsgericht, Baden, Deutschland
1873 October 31 – Death of his Father Peter Reinhard – Neuenheim, Heidelberg, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany
1875 March 16 – Marriage to Anna Katharina Pauline Sieber—Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany
1876 June 8– Birth of daughter Anna Katharina Ida Reinhard – Neuenheim, Heidelberg, Baden, Germany
My Note: Up to this point the information may be correct for Konrad Reinhard born 9 June 1851.
*1877 February 14 – Birth of daughter Eva Fredricka Reinhard(t) – Heidelberg, Baden, Germany. My Notes: Here is where it starts to go wrong. This is my ancestor (Great Grandmother) born to my 2nd great grandfather Konrad John Reinhardt and Anna Maria Schweppler. Notice that the birth of daughter Anna Katharina Ida and Eva Fredricka are 8 months apart.
1877 February 25 – Birth of daughter Elisabeth Reinhard –Neuenheim, Heidelberg, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. My Notes: Notice the birth of my great-grandmother Eva and the birth of Elisabeth are 11 days apart. Really?
1877 April 26 – Marriage to Anna Katharina Pauline Sieber – Baiertal, Heidalberg, Baden, Germany. My Notes: He just married Anna Katharina Pauline Sieber two years ago in 1875. This happens to be the marriage date of my ancestor Konrad John Reinhardt to Anna Maria Schweppler. If you look at the actual marriage record you can clearly see the names.
1878 August 22 – Birth of daughter Susanna Reinhard – Neuenheim, Heidelberg, Baden Germany
1878 September – Death of wife Anna Katharina Paulina Reinhard – Neuenheim, Heidelberg, Baden, Germany
1879 February 11 – Death of daughter Susanna Reinhard – Neuenheim, Heidelberg, Baden
1880 April 13 – Marriage to Elizabeth Herdt – Heidelberg, Baden, Germany
*1880 August 10 – Birth of son John Conrad Reinhard(t) – Baden Baden, Germany. My Notes: This is my great uncle born to my ancestor 2nd great grandfather Konrad John Reinhardt and Anna Maria Schweppler. His birth year is actually 1879 August 10. There are several records online that state this is his birth date.
1880 – Arrival in United States. My Notes: My Reinhardt’s arrived in December 1879. There are several records online where this information can be found. I also have a record from the Amana Historical Society that gives the date they arrived in America and Amana, Iowa.
*1880 – Residence – Amana, Marengo, Iowa. My Notes: This is my Ancestors listed on the 1880 US Federal Census. Wife is listed as Anna not Elizabeth who he married in 1880. This is not his family.
*1881 February 10 – Birth of daughter Elizabeth Reinhard(t) – Amana, Marengo, Iowa. My Notes: This is my great aunt born to Konrad John Reinhardt and Anna Maria Schweppler. I personally knew Aunt Liz and have her birth record.
1882 – Arrival in United States. My Notes: They just arrived in 1880 according to this family tree. Did they arrive twice?
*1884 January – Birth of daughter Emma Reinhard(t) – Illinois. My Notes: This is my great aunt born to Konrad John Reinhardt and Anna Maria Schweppler. I Personally knew Aunt Emma.
*1887 March 26 – Birth of son Fred Reinhard(t) – Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois My Notes: This is my great uncle born Konrad Reinhardt and Anna Maria Schweppler. I personally met him once, and my mother was close to his daughter Shirley.
1889 April 5 – Death of his brother Ludwig Reinhard – Neuenheim, Heidelberg, Baden, Deutschland
*1889 May 1 – Birth of daughter Anna Reinhard(t) – Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois. My Notes: This is my great aunt born to Konrad John Reinhardt and Anna Maria Schweppler
1889 August 30 – Death of his mother Anna Katharina Vogel
*1891 October 3 – Birth of daughter Agnes Hoph – Hodgkins, Illinois. My Notes: I don’t know where this surname came from. Agnes Reinhardt was my great aunt born to Konrad John Reinhardt and Anna Maria Schweppler in Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois. She was born on date listed above. I personally knew Aunt Agnes. She married in 1920 to Art Lightfoot. A search of Agnes Hoph is a Cook County Illinois birth record for a son Harvey Reinhardt and father is listed as Leu Reinhardt in Hodgkins, Illinois. The time line on Agnes Hoph in this particular family tree has her leaving the country and arriving here several times. One lists her as coming from Cairo. I am sure Agnes Hogh is not my ancestor Agnes Reinhardt.
*1900 – Resident – Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois. My Notes: This is my ancestors on the 1900 US Federal Census. Wife is listed as Anna not Elizabeth who he married in 1880. This is not his family.
*1901 – Birth of son Milton Reinhard(t)– Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois. My Notes: Milton Reinhardt is actually the grandson of Konrad John Reinhardt. Milton is the son of Elizabeth Reinhardt. He is listed on the 1910 Census as the son of Konrad John and Anna Reinhardt. I have his birth certificate which lists Elizabeth Reinhardt as mother. He was illegitimate, that is why he is probably listed as their son. It was a well-known fact in our family that Milton was Elizabeth’s son.
1907 April 3 – Marriage to Karoline Gander – Bergzabern, Bayern, Prussia. My Notes: If you believe this timeline to be correct, does he travel to Germany to get married again (I guess that is possible) and what happened to the wife he married in 1880 Elizabeth Herdt?
1908 April 24 – Death of sister Anna Rosina Reinhard
*1910 – Resident – Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois My Notes: This is my ancestors on the 1910 Census. It lists Anna as the wife not Elizabeth who he married in 1880 or Karoline who he married in 1907. Anyone can see that the owner of this family tree added my ancestors to the wrong family tree.
*1919 March 8 – Death of daughter Anna Reinhard(t). My Notes: This is my great aunt Anna Reinhardt. I have her death certificate.
1921 – Death – Neuenheim, Heidelberg, Baden, Germany. My notes: My 2nd great-grandfather Konrad John Reinhardt died 6 July 1922 in Chicago, Illinois. He was living with his daughter Elizabeth Reinhardt Farrell in Chicago. His body was sent to Ottawa Illinois and he is buried in the Ottawa Avenue Cemetery, Ottawa, Illinois. As anyone can see the man in this family tree is not my ancestor. Also, if you believe this timeline, he had been living in Ottawa, Illinois since about 1885, yet he goes to Germany and dies there? Possible I guess but I would question why when his wife and kids are here. There was one source that listed him as a farmer. My Konrad John Reinhardt was a shoemaker.
Because my great-grandmother was attached to this family tree, my grandmother, grandfather, mother, father, and brother are also attached to it. I hope that I don’t get attached to it too!
I know writing about this will not change anything. Sometimes when I tell a not-genealogist they say, “so what.” But to me it does matter. It is especially irritating when I have spent countless hours researching, pouring through microfilm, traveling to court houses, etc., and another person just goes online and attaches every person with the same name as their ancestor to their family tree. This requires very little research or work. It is just plain carelessness and involves no critical thinking. Sorry, that is not doing genealogy. I have contacted five different people who have done this and not one of them has replied. They haven’t replied to say sorry; I made a mistake or to defend their tree. I will continue to expose them.
Did you live in the era of old fashion birthday parties like the one pictured in this 1949 photo? For me it brings back memories of birthday parties long forgotten. Oh, how I loved those old fashion birthday parties when you went to your friends house to celebrate their birthday. I remembering playing games such as
Drop the clothespin in the bottle — We would kneel on a chair facing the back of chair lean over and drop the clothespin in a milk bottle. The one who got the most clothes pin in the bottle won the game.
Walk the potato — We would put a potato on our foot and try to walk across the room without the potato falling off. The one who went the furthest won the game.
Pin the tail on the donkey — A big picture of a donkey would be taped to a wall. We would be blind folded then turned in circles with a pin though the donkey tail and then sent on our way to pin the tail on the donkey
Musical chairs — Several chairs would be lined up facing opposite directions. There was one less chair then there were children. The music would start and we would walk around the line of chairs and when the music stopped we had to sit down. The one who couldn’t find a seat was eliminated and another chair removed. It went on until there was only one chair and one person left.
Memory game — There was a tray with about 10 items on it. We were to study it and try to remember all the items. Then the parent would take away the tray. We each had to tell the parent what items were on the tray. The one who remembered the most items won.
There were prizes for the winner of the game. The birthday girl or boy would open the gifts after the games. It was exciting watching the birthday girl or boy open their gifts and see their reactions. and always hoping they liked what you gave them.
After opening the gifts, we would gather round the table to sing “Happy Birthday” and to eat cake, ice cream, and root beer. At the table by your plate would be a party hat and party favors. In the picture you can see little baskets that probably contained the party favors. At the table we would play another game, “Telephone” where someone would whisper a phrase in the ear of the first person, then they would repeat to the next person and so on around the table. The last person would repeat out loud what they heard. Usually, it was very different from the original phrase.
The parties were simple, fun, and lasted a couple of hours. I always came home with some kind of prize and candy. The parents of the birthday girl or boy were involved organizing and running the party. They made sure everyone got their turn and everyone got along. I don’t remember anyone ever going home angry, upset, or crying. There was no out doing each other for a bigger and better birthday party. They were all pretty much standard and every party had games, opening of gifts, ice cream, cake, and root beer. All were at the homes of the birthday girl or boy.
As much fun as it was going to the parties, it was really exciting when it was my birthday party with my house decorated and table set with hats and party favors. It was also fun shopping with my mom when we picked out favors and prizes.
I remember at one of my birthday parties (I think I was 4 or 5), I liked one of the little boys and he gave me scarf. I got up went over to him and tried to give him a kiss. Of course, he did not want to be kissed and started to run and I chased him. I think I embarrassed my mom. It took her by surprise and she caught me and told me to sit down. I imagine that I embarrassed that poor boy too. When my mom told my dad, he laughed and said that I took after her. After all that is how she got him! Of course, he was joking. That was my dad!
Birthday parties have change since those days. Now a lot of times they are not at home, but at a venue of some kind. They will have things like one of those bounce houses, and they will have clowns or magicians to perform and usually a theme.
If you had the pleasure of attending an old fashion birthday party, let me know what you think. Did you enjoy them? Do you think they are better now? I look forward to your comments.
One thing the Internet has done is made genealogy easy. I admit that I use it and have found some information that I might never have found, if not for some of the family history sites. However, the ancestry sites are not the end all.
I started doing genealogy in 1979, well before the Internet or even personal computers for that matter. It was a long treacherous process. When I decided to do it back then, I went to the library and took out “how to” books. I took notes from those books, and after several weeks of studying, I started my genealogy journey. The only way to get a family tree form or family group sheets was to send for them from Utah, and they cost 10 cents a page. The books advised writing in pencil until you were sure of the facts, so you didn’t have to keep redoing your forms. The books emphasized starting with yourself and working backwards, which seemed pretty easy. I knew my statistics, and that of my parents, and grandparents. I then set off to interview my family members. I gathered name, dates, and places and when my forms arrived entered that information into my forms. I used a typewriter to type up my notes. I kept a research log, and a correspondence log. I wrote to county court houses asking for them to search for ancestors, birth, marriage, or death records. I had to do it slowly because they charged $5.00 to search whether they found one or not. Most of the time, they said they could not find them. Years later, I made a personal visit and they did have them. My next step was to visit cemeteries where I was told our ancestors were buried. I had good luck and was able to find most of them. I recorded the information off the tombstones (if they had one) or got the information from the cemetery office. I visited the county courthouses. My mother and I made a trip to Amana, Iowa where her great grandparents first settled after coming here. I didn’t get very far in those days because I was limited by money, mail, and travel.
In 1990 I went to work in a library that had a genealogy section. Patrons would come in and we would have to unlock the room with the genealogy collection. Patrons would ask questions, and even though I had a little knowledge, I could not answer their questions. The reference librarians seemed to hate when patrons would ask genealogy questions because they were unprepared to answer them. As one librarian told me, “They don’t teach genealogy in library school.” A lot of the patrons were very knowledgeable about genealogy, and we all know how genealogist love to talk about it. I would listen to the ones who seemed very knowledgeable. I had actually stopped doing it because I was not getting very far. My mother and I were doing it together and she had passed away. But now working at this library, I got interested again. I started working on my own family tree again. Now I knew how to get microfilm from the state library for census records, ship passenger lists, and old newspapers. After my work shift, I would spend hours going through microfilm I had Interlibrary loaned from the state archives. Now I was getting someplace and learning things about my ancestors, no one in the family had told me. I made copies of everything I found and did citations of every document. I still kept those pesky research notes and calendar. I started making trips to genealogy libraries such as the one in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I went to the libraries in the towns where my ancestors lived. It was a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. I joined the local genealogical society and again the people who belonged were very knowledgeable and could help me out. They gave classes which I took. I was beginning to answer patron’s questions on genealogy. The reference librarians started sending anyone with a genealogy question to me, but I still felt inadequate. In the early 90’s I went back to school to get a degree in library science, and by the mid 90’s I decided to take a course offered by the National Genealogical Society in Basic American Genealogy. This was a correspondence course (not able to do on Internet yet). It should take between 2 to 4 years to complete. Well, it took me the 4 years because of working, raising a family, etc. I also had to travel to get documents for this course. I finished and have a certificate of in Basic American Genealogy from the National Genealogical Society. I will tell you it was not easy. There is this pesky little thing called The genealogical proof standard. The National Genealogical Society followed this standard and expected it from students. There is a whole manual written on this subject. I have tried my best in doing my own family tree to follow these standards, have written research reports for each and every one of my ancestors. Now all this may not be necessary when doing your own. But I wanted to be as professional about it as possible. I also wanted the practice in case I ever decided to do it for others.
I am telling you my back ground so you will know why it bothers me when I find one of my ancestor attached to some family tree, he does not belong on.
This has bothered me for a long time. I have put a lot of work over many years to have an accurate family tree. I don’t always keep my online family tree up to date, but I do my personal one on my computer and paper. One online family history site gives leaves which are meant to be hints. Their computers take what you have entered into your family tree and match with records with those same names, dates, etc. Some of the records belong to your ancestor and some DO NOT. Some matches are from another member’s family tree. Someone new to genealogy may think that because my ancestor has the same name and approximate birthdate as their ancestor it is their ancestor. So, without much thought, they attach to their family tree. I have found my grandfather attached to another person’s family tree, where he is married to someone who is not my grandmother. They have children together and this person attached my mother to this family. I guess my mother had brothers and sisters she didn’t know about. Then they went even further and attached my brother (who is deceased) as their grandson. Months ago, I sent this person a message telling them they had attached the wrong person and I sent proof along with it. They have yet to respond or remove it. I have also found this with aunts and uncles of mine and my husbands. It seems to be quite common for people to do this and not think through if this is really their ancestor. Then I hear how easy genealogy is and anyone can do it now.
Recently, I got a message from someone telling me that the dates, name, and wife’s name of my one 2nd great grandfather is wrong in my family tree. Of course, he gave me the right name, dates, and names of his three wives. I sat here for a couple of minutes trying to digest this information. I realized what this man had done. He thought my 2nd great grandfather was his ancestor and he had different dates and names. Their names were close and date of birth and death were with in a year of each other. I messaged him back and told him that my name, dates, and name of wife were correct. I had all the documentation. At least he accepted that he had the wrong person and it ended there. But when I did a name search on my 2nd great-grandfather, I came up with 33,785 hits, and if I put in his birth and death year, I got 13,000 hits. As you can see there are many people in the world with the same name and close birth and death years. No one should assume because they get leaf this is their ancestor. You must check it out first. Be careful about telling someone they are wrong. I have done extensive research on this man. I have his birth, marriage, death records, visited the cemetery where he is buried, have the ships passenger record, his naturalization record, and have followed him from place to place in the United States, followed him in all census records from 1880 to 1920 as well as city directories. I traced all his children down to today’s descendants. I think the commercials for Ancestry are to blame for some of this. In the commercial the person finds a leaf and that leaf led to finding her whole family back generations, just like that. All she did was put her ancestors name in and there was her whole family tree. It makes it look easy and like there is no work involved. People expect fast results without any work.
This has become a pet peeve of mine. When I have put in the work to trace my family lines back several hundred years and someone goes on Ancestry and steals my ancestor to put in their family tree it is just so annoying. A distant ancestor is one thing, but when it is your mother and brother it becomes personal.
I am glad I learned the old-fashion way because I know my family tree is accurate. I can back it up anytime, can they?
Recently, I was trying to write about my father’s Aunt Christine. I only had the privilege of meeting her a couple of times when I was around 8 or 10 years old. When I met her, she had two grown sons. I thought her sons were her only children. My father was not close to her and rarely saw her so he didn’t know much about her life. As I researched her, I became very confused. It seems she had seven children with at least 3 different men. Each time she married; the children’s surname changed to whomever she married. It was hard to keep track of who belonged to who. This is where a timeline came in handy. Using a timeline to record the events in your ancestor’s life helps organize your genealogy research, and find gaps in your research. Here is my timeline for Christine.
1913 – Christina has a baby girl in June 1913. The name of the child is listed as baby Manfroid (same birth date as her daughter Marion). On Birth Certificate the father’s name is erased, but still readable and it says Frank Gauger and occupation is machinist. Also, father’s birth place erased, but still readable as Chicago, Illlinois.
1913 – Christina gets married in November of 1913 to an Orrey Levi Wheat
1915 – Christine has a baby girl, Harriet according to the 1940 census.
1918 – Christina has a baby girl Louise according to the 1930 census.
1919 – Christina has a baby girl Dorothy Butendorff
1930 – Christine is living in Forest Park, Illinois with daughters Marion, Harriette, Louise, and Dorothy Butendorff. There is no husband in household, however she states she is married.
1933 – Christine’s son George Ciancio Jr. is born. This according to the SS Index.
1935 – Christine’s son Ronald Ciancio was born. This according to the SS Index
1939 – Christie’s daughter, Joyce Ciancio is born. According to 1940 census.
1940 – Christine is married to George Ciancio and has three children by him. George Jr. 5 years old, Ronald 4 years old, and Joyce 1 years old. This means that she must have divorced Robert Buttendorf somewhere between 1930 and 1933 when George was born.
1940 – Christine’s daughter, Marion Butendorff, is married to Victor Vartan living in Chicago, Illinois and they have a 7 month old son according to the 1940 census.
1940 – Census lists Robert Butendorff as single and he is living alone.
1940 – Christine’s daughter, Louise, is married to Herbert Kanning on the 1940 census.
1940 – Christine’s daughter, Dorothy, is married to Herbert Reichert. Dorothy and Herbert have a three-year-old daughter according to the 1940 Census
1942 – Robert dies and on the death certificate Christine is listed as wife.
1942 – Robert’s WWII draft card does not mention Christine.
1950 – Christine is living with her two sons George and Ronald according to the 1950 census.
My paternal grandmother died before I was born so I never had the privilege of knowing her. So many times, I wished I could talk to her. Not just for genealogy purposes, I wanted to know her like I knew my other grandma. As a kid, I would visualize her watching me from heaven. All I know about my paternal grandmother is what my father told me.
Helen Desens was born on 23 March 1900 at home in Forest Park, Illinois.[1] According to my father she attended St. John Lutheran Church and school through 8th grade in Forest Park, Illinois, and was baptized and confirmed at this church.[2] Unable to find a birth certificate for her, I turned to church records. This was many years ago before the Internet. I called the church and asked if they had records and would it be possible search them. They said, “Yes, come on in.” When I got there, I had to ring a bell and someone met me at the door and escorted me to the church office. I had to walk through the school and across the gymnasium to get to the church office. The school and church were old, and I don’t think it had changed since my grandmother attended school there from approximately 1905 to 1914. Walking through the halls of the school, I imagined my grandmother as a little girl going to this school and I felt a real connection to her. If I was alone, I think I would have cried. But on to the office and records. I found her confirmation record, but not a baptism record. The confirmation record stated she was confirmed on 5 April 1914 and her parents were Carl Desens and Augusta Gabbie.[3] She was born 23 March 1900 Forest Park IL and her church was St. Paul in Forest Park, Illinois.[4] Although, I could use the confirmation record as a secondary source for proof of her parentage and birth date, I was disappointed. The baptism record would be a secondary source too, but closer to the event (birth). But at least it told me that she was most likely baptized at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Forest Park. I didn’t know that Forest Park had two Lutheran Churches. While I was there, I looked for anyone who had the last name Desens, and I did find some of her brothers and sisters who were baptized at this church, plus some cousins. I left that day with the intention of calling St. Paul Church and going there to look for her baptism. But since I did have the proof I was looking for, I put it off for many years. I put it off so long that now with the Internet many records are online, and I found her baptism at St. Paul on Ancestry.com. My grandmother was baptized Helene Margarete Auguste Desens on 12 May 1901.[5] It states she was born 23 March 1901 (the year different from the confirmation record). It lists the parents as Carl Desens and Augusta Gabbei (slightly different spelling than confirmation record).[6]
According to my father she went to church regularly and brought him up a Lutheran. I am not sure of my grandfather’s religious beliefs. My father did not mention him going to church. I assume he was probably brought up Catholic because his mother was a Catholic. My grandparents went to the DuPage County Courthouse in Wheaton, Illinois on the 22 March 1919 to be married.[7] I find it interesting that my grandmother was married the day before her 18th birthday. Actually, if she was born in 1901, she was still 17 when she got married. Marriage record lists her as 19 on the day before her birthday. So did they lie about her age to get married, but then why didn’t they wait one or two more days until she was 18. Why didn’t they have a church wedding? Was it because of age, different religious beliefs, or could it be for some other reason? I’ll never know the answer to that one.
There seems to be a discrepancy in her birth year.
I decided to go with the 1901 because the baptism is closed to the event and the fact, she is not listed on the 1900 census with the rest of her family. If born in 1900, she would have been 3 months old when the census was taken on 30 June1900.
[3] “Confirmation Record for Helen Desens,” born 23 March 1900, confirmed 5 April 1914, St. St John Congregational book 1908 – 1926, Page 227. Book located at John Lutheran Church, 305 Circle Ave., Forest Park, Cook County, Illinois.
[5] “Baptism record for Helen Desens,” Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Archives; Elk Grove Village, Illinois; Congregational Records Source Information: Ancestry.com. U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Records, 1781-1969 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.
[8] “Confirmation Record for Helen Desens,” born 23 March 1900, confirmed 5 April 1914, St. St John Congregational book 1908 – 1926, Page 227. Book located at John Lutheran Church, 305 Circle Ave., Forest Park, Cook County, Illinois.
[9] “Baptism record for Helen Desens,” Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Archives; Elk Grove Village, Illinois; Congregational Records Source Information: Ancestry.com. U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Records, 1781-1969 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.
[10] “George Manfroid marriage Record to Helen Desens, Wheaton, DuPage, Illinois,” 22 March 1919. Original located at DuPage County Government Offices, 505 N County Farm Road, Winfield, DuPage, Illinois.
[12] “Death record for Helen Manfroid,” Elmhurst, DuPage, Illinois, 4 September 1946. Original located at DuPage County Government Offices, 505 N County Farm Road, Winfield, DuPage, Illinois.
We find our ancestors in a variety of court records such as; wills, probate, criminal and civil cases, divorces, and naturalization records to name as few. Through the years, I have found several court records that have helped me establish a relationship, and some that have given me a glimpse into my ancestor’s life.
One such court record is the probate file for my 2nd great-grandfather, John Desens. I was looking for proof that he was my 2nd great-grandfather. I was pretty sure I had the right person, but needed positive proof and I did find it in the probate file.
Proves Carl Desens is his son
Above it states that Carl Desens who resides at 111 Washington Street, Forest Park, Illinois is the son of John Desens, the deceased. Carl Desens is my great-grandfather.1 This was the proof that I needed for my family tree.
Also, it states in the probate file that John Desens suffered a violent death.2 I already knew about the circumstances of his death by newspaper accounts and a court transcript of criminal case against his neighbor.3
States John Desens died a violent deateh
What I did not know was that his neighbor, Fred Zell tried suing John Desens’ estate for $5000 because he was permanently disabled from the fight he had with John Desens’. But John’s estate counter sued and below is the statement from the probate file that gives the reason they are suing Fred Zell.4
Description of John Desens violent death
Above is a description of what Fred Zell did to John Desens. Since it may be hard to read I am going to transcribe that part. “Fred Zell did at said time and place unlawfully, willfully, wrongfully, and feloniously assault, strike, beat, bruise, cut, stab, kick, choke, throw down to ground with great violence and while so down cut, kick choke, stab, beat and bruise the said John Desens and put him greatly in fear of his life. That therefore the said John Desens (now deceased) was made sick, sore, bruised and disabled from attending to his business and to care for himself in any manner what ever from the 26th day of June A.D. 1907 to the time of his death.” John’s estate tried to sue Fred for $5,900. It was settled with John’s estate paying Fred $1.00.5 In the criminal case against Fred Zell for killing John Desens it was found that there was not enough evidence to convict Fred.6
In this probate file was the legal description of his farm and a list of all his belongings. The legal description helped me find John’s Farm. The list of belongings gave me a glimpse into his life.7
I have other wills and probate files that help me understand my ancestors life and their surroundings as well as prove heirs.
1Probate file for John Desens filed in the McIntyre Library at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, 103 Garfield Ave, Eau Claire, WI 54701.
2Ibid.
3Criminal file for Fred Zell, Clerk of the Court, 517 Court Street, Room 405, Neillsville, Wisconsin 54456. Sent by Elizabeth Frost, Deputy Clerk to Abigail Grunst
4Probate file for John Desens filed in the McIntyre Library at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, 103 Garfield Ave, Eau Claire, WI 54701.
5Ibid.
6Criminal file for Fred Zell, Clerk of the Court, 517 Court Street, Room 405, Neillsville, Wisconsin 54456. Sent by Elizabeth Frost, Deputy Clerk to Abigail Grunst
7Probate file for John Desens filed in the McIntyre Library at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, 103 Garfield Ave, Eau Claire, WI 54701.
Branching out or researching collateral lines is a well-known technique used in the genealogy community when you hit a brick wall. It was a brick wall and curiosity that caused me to branch out and research collateral lines. In two ancestral lines, I was curious what brought them to the place they settled in. What brought my 2nd great-grandfather, Charles Bowers, to Ottawa, Illinois in 1854? Usually, people settle in a specific area because they know someone or have a job. The job was out because he worked as a farm laborer and a school janitor. He could have done these jobs anywhere. He must have known someone, but who? If I wanted to know why he settled in Ottawa, Illinois, it was necessary to research his collateral lines.
William Linfor
Charles Obituary in 1897 said he had two brothers, Robert and William, living in Syracuse, New York.[1] I did find a Robert living in Syracuse in 1900[2] and Richard Bowers[3] living in Syracuse, New York in 1892, but no William. I often wondered if Richard was William. Maybe William was his middle name. I gave up looking for William and thought perhaps the newspaper or person giving the information had it wrong.
A few years ago, I ordered microfilm from the Family History Library in Utah to look for my 2nd great-grandfather Charles Bower’s baptism on 2 October 1828 in England.[4] I knew it was there from the online index. When I got the microfilm reels of the church records it covered the years 1772 – 1905. I started looking for anyone and everyone with the last name Bowers. I found my 3rd great-grandparents Bonnet Bowers and Eliza Linford marriage which stated that Eliza was a widow.[5] I also found baptism records for a Richard,[6] Robert[7] and Eliza Bowers[8] born to Bonnet and Eliza Bowers. I never found a William Bowers that was a son of Bonnet and Eliza. Along the way, I found Eliza in the marriage banns to Robert Linford.[9] I also found two children she had with her first husband, William baptized 28 August 1811,[10] and Elizabeth baptized November 30, 1814[11] and died on 5 December 1814. I made copies of all the pages that listed these events. I then came home and entered the Bowers information into my family tree. I filed the documents in my file cabinet under their family name and moved on to another branch.
I decided to start scanning documents that I have collected over the years into my computer. I started with the Bowers folder because it is the first one in my file cabinet. As I was scanning them into the computer, I was looking over them again, when I came across the name William Linford born in 1811 to Eliza and her first husband.[12] I guess it pays to take a second look at documents because at that moment it struck me that if William lived, he would be a step brother to my 2nd great grandfather Charles. Could this be the brother William mentioned in Charles’ obituary? The next thing I did was a search on William Linford, and the first thing that popped up was the 1850 census which had a William Linfor (spelled without the d) living in Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois.[13] This was most likely brother, William, and that is why Charles ended up in Ottawa, Illinois.
I continued to search for William Linfor(d) and found out the following information. He married Dinah Essaby in 1833.[14] They had four children John 1837, William 1840, Sarah 1844, Robert 1846.[15] They came to the US 22 August 1849 and to Ottawa, Illinois on 1 October 1849.[16] In 1851 William applied for citizenship and in 1854 he became a citizen of the United States.[17] He worked as a Sexton at the West Ottawa Cemetery until the family moved to Section 20 in Allen Township, LaSalle County, Illinois in 1856. William farmed the land until 1879 when Dinah died and he moved to Syracuse, New York.[18]
In 1911 William Linfor was living at 1516 Grape Street in Syracuse, New York. At the age of 99 he was just beginning to carry a cane. The previous winter he was seen climbing a ladder to clean snow off the roof. He attributed his long life to never eating beyond what he knew he could digest. He was still in possession of all his faculties except his hearing.[19] William Linfor died on 28 January 1912 of pleurisy at the ripe old age of 100.[20]
Another 2nd Great Grandfather, Conrad Reinhardt, settled in Amana, Iowa after coming to the United States.[21] The Amana Colonies are religious communal way of life.[22] All property was held in common and all decisions religious and secular were made by the same leadership.[23] My grandmother always said that her grandfather’s sister started the Amana Colonies, however I could never find proof of this and in researching his siblings, they all would have been too young to be involved in the founding of the colonies. I could find no evidence that any of his siblings ever lived there. Who did Conrad know in Amana, Iowa?
While I was researching a great-uncle, John C. Reinhardt, I found an article in the Sabetha Herald about John’s recollection of his childhood in the Amana Colonies, Iowa.[24] I found this interesting since he is my great grandmother’s brother and our common ancestor is his father, Conrad (my2nd great grandfather). In the article John mentions that his great-aunt was a school teacher for more than half a century. She weighed 225 pounds and was 6 feet 2 inches. The name of the great aunt was not mentioned in the article. I figured this was my 2nd great-grandfather’s connection to Amana, and this is the reasons he chose to go there upon arriving in the US.
I had previously corresponded with the Amana Heritage Museum when needing information on my 2nd great-grandfather. I wrote to them once again and they were able to provide me with information about the aunt. The Aunt was Elizabetha Schuh born in Nussloch near Heidelberg, Baden, 26 May 1831. Elisabetha is the sister to Conrad’s mother. She came to Ebenezer Society in September 1847, then to Amana in October 1863. The Internal records of Amana Society indicate that she came with the Bortz family. The Bortz Family and another outside source claims that her parents did not approve of her relationship with a certain boy so they shipped her to America.[25] The Amana Heritage Museum history documents her as a woman of size and strength. They also said that all of the teachers were men with the exception of teaching knitting.[26] I was able to find her on the 1870 United States Federal Census[27] and the 1885 Iowa Census[28] and on both census records her occupation is listed as housekeeper not a teacher. She died on 25 March 1908 and is buried in the Amana Cemetery.[29]
By branching out and researching collateral lines I was able to resolve my curiosity as to why both 2nd great-grandfathers settled where they did.
Note: I combined last week’s 52 ancestors in 52 weeks prompt “curious’’ and this week’s prompt “branching out” for this week’s post
[4] Baptism for Charles Bowers baptized on 2 October 1828; Register of Baptisms in the Parish of Terrington St. Clements, Norfolk, England; 1813 – 1841 manuscript on microfilm #13640109 Item 3; Utah: filmed by the Genealogical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah at Wisbech and Fenland Museum, Cambridgeshire, England
[5] Marriage Record for Bonnet Bowers and Eliza Linford married 27 April 1822; Register of Marriages in the Parish of Terrington St. Clement, Norfolk, England; 1813 – 1838 manuscript on microfilm #13640109 item 2; Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah at Wisbech and Fenland Museum, Cambridgeshire, England
[6] Baptism Record for Richard Bowers baptized 20 April 1822; Register of Baptisms in the Parish of Terrington St. Clements, Norfolk, England; 1813 – 1841 manuscript on microfilm #13640109 Item 3; Utah: filmed by the Genealogical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah at Wisbech and Fenland Museum, Cambridgeshire, England.
[7] Baptism Record for Robert Bowers baptized 25 February 1825; Register of Baptisms in the Parish of Terrington St. Clements, Norfolk, England; 1813 – 1841 manuscript on microfilm #13640109 Item 3; Utah: filmed by the Genealogical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah at Wisbech and Fenland Museum, Cambridgeshire, England
[8] Baptism Record for Eliza Bowers baptized 10 June 1827; Register of Baptisms in the Parish of Terrington St. Clements, Norfolk, England; 1813 – 1841 manuscript on microfilm #13640109 Item 3; Utah: filmed by the Genealogical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah at Wisbech and Fenland Museum, Cambridgeshire, England
[9] England Marriages, 1538–1973 database, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NVJ5-JXV : 10 February 2018), William Linfor and Dinah Essaby, 14 “Oct 1833; citing Gedney, Lincoln, England, reference , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1542146 IT 1
[10] Baptism for William Linford 28 August 1811; Terrington St. Clement, Norfolk, England; Parish Register Baptism and Burials 1772 – 1812 Item 2; Microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Salt Lake City, Utah at Wisbech and Fenland Museum, Wisbech, Cambs., filmed 26 July 1988, Film Number 13640109, film unit # 2161 NCD 2 Roll # 5
[11] Baptism for Elizabeth Linford 30 November 1814; Terrington St. Clement, Norfolk, England; Parish Register Baptism and Burials 1772 – 1812 Item 2; Microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Salt Lake City, Utah at Wisbech and Fenland Museum, Wisbech, Cambs., filmed 26 July 1988, Film Number 13640109, film unit # 2161 NCD 2 Roll # 5
[12] Baptism for William Linford 28 August 1811; Terrington St. Clement, Norfolk, England; Parish Register Baptism and Burials 1772 – 1812 Item 2; Microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Salt Lake City, Utah at Wisbech and Fenland Museum, Wisbech, Cambs., filmed 26 July 1988, Film Number 13640109, film unit # 2161 NCD 2 Roll # 5
[17] National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D. C.; Soundex Index to Naturalization Petitions for the United States District and Circuit Courts, Northern District of Illinois and Immigration and Naturalization service District 9 1840 – 1950 (M1285); microfilm Serial: M1285; Microfilm Roll 112
[18]Biographical and Genealogy Record of LaSalleCountyIllinois(Google eBook) (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, 1900), p. 227.
[19] Henley B. J., The Art of Longevity (Google eBook) (Syracuse, N.Y, 1911), p. 223 & 224
[20]Health News. Monthly Bulletin (Google ebook) (New York State Division of Public Health Education, Albany, New York), New Series, Vol. VIII, No 1, Full Series Vol. XXIX No 1, January 1913
[21]Amana Church Membership Records, in archive collection of the Amana Heritage Museum, Amana, Iowa.
[22] Bourret, Joan Liffring-Zub and John Zug, Amanas yesterday: a religious communal society: a story of seven villages in Iowa: historic photographs 1900 – 1932. IA City, IA: Penfield Press, 2003
I have many favorite pictures so it was hard to pick just one. This happens to be one of my favorite pictures because it is three generations of strong women. The picture was taken in 1938. From the left is my great-grandmother, Eva Bowers, my mother, Dorothy Kaiser (age 14), and my grandmother, Helen Kaiser nee Bowers. I think the picture was probably taken in front of my great-grandmother’s place in Chicago. By 1938 my grandparents were living in Villa Park, Illinois and this is not their home. I wish I could have been in the picture to make it four generations, but I was not born yet and by the time I came along, Eva had already passed away. I never knew Eva, but heard a lot about her from my mom and grandma. Eva was born in Heidelberg, Baden, Germany to Johann Konrad Reinhardt and Anna Maria Schwebler on February 14, 1877. Eva came to the United States when she was almost two years old. Her brother John was a baby. Her first home in the United States was in Amana, Iowa. They spent a few years in Amana and then moved to Ottawa, Illinois where Eva grew up with her brothers and sisters. Eva grew into a young woman and sometime around 1896 she married Robert Bowers also of Ottawa, Illinois. The family story is that Robert and Eva ran off to Chicago to be married. I have never been able to find a marriage record for them in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. According to family stories, Robert’s family never accepted Eva as his wife or acknowledged that any of the children were Roberts. I started to wonder if they were ever really married and that is why Robert’s family didn’t want anything to do with Eva or their children. However, when Robert’s father died, Robert and Eva as his wife signed a quit-claim deed to a piece of property to Robert’s mother. I was told that if they were not married, Eva would not need to sign the quit-claim deed. Perhaps they were married somewhere other than Chicago. Robert and Eva had three children, Ralph born in 1897, Helen in 1898 and Frances in 1900. Shortly after Frances was born Robert left Eva. Again family stories say they were divorced, however I have never found divorce records for them. In 1900 Eva was on her own and had to make a living for her and her three children. She raised the three children alone in a time when there was no financial support for women. Robert did not have to pay child support and there was no welfare. Eva relied on family to babysit her children while she worked. She worked a milliner and seamstress for many years. She moved to Chicago away from her support system in Ottawa, Illinois. There were probably better job opportunities in Chicago. She had a couple of long relationships with men, but I can find no proof that she married them. She always kept the surname Bowers. Eva passed away on 23 December 1941 in Chicago, Illinois.
My grandmother married in 1923 to Fred Kaiser. Because of her upbringing with no father in her life, she was determined to have a long marriage and raise her children in a home with both a mother and father. She had my mother in 1924, a son in 1930 that lived only 11 days, another son in 1931, and a stillborn son in 1933. The son born in1931 was premature, weighed 4 lbs 2 oz and fit into the palm of her hand. She had a strong belief in God and I am sure that is what got her through those years in the 1930’s. Her premature baby boy survived and died at 80 years old. Grandma witnessed the depression during the 30’s and WWII. She was a true homemaker of the day, a good cook, seamstress, and housekeeper. She had a successful long marriage that ended in October 1980 after 57 years with the death of her husband. She only lived four months after the death of her husband and died at age 82 in February 1981.
My mother’s life was probably the easiest of the three. She married George Manfroid in 1945 and had two children. She was also a homemaker of the time. The depression of the 30’s affected my father’s family more than it did my mother’s, because of my father’s experience it made him determined that his family did not go without. He bought things that they really could not afford. My mother was the one that tried to keep things in check and watch the money. They were always living paycheck to paycheck. My mother was the worrier and this bothered her a lot. In spite of my father’s foolish spending, they were happily married. Once my brother and I were old enough she went to work. She worked part-time as a cashier for Walgreens, and went to night school to learn bookkeeping. She then found a job working as bookkeeper for Slater’s Shoe Store. This was a huge help to their financial situation. My mother was healthy during her life time, but not my father. He was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1967, my mother took good care of him through his treatments and worried she might lose him. He survived it and lived another 17 years. In 1984 he was diagnosed again with cancer this time with lung cancer, and he only survived a couple of weeks after diagnoses. My mother who had never been ill with more than a cold, died suddenly three years later from a brain aneurism.
All three women had their trials and tribulations and managed to stay strong and keep going in spite of them. In-between the hard times were good times too. My grandmother looks so happy in the picture above. They all had a hard life, but it was also a good life. I think for all of us life is full of those hard times, but it is our faith and family that get us through those times.
Of all my great genealogy finds, I think this one was my favorite. The family story was that some ancestor was killed by Indians in Wisconsin. That did not turn out to be true, but an ancestor was killed in Wisconsin by his neighbor. I first published this story in 2015 and here it is again today.
On a June day in 1907 John Desens was working on his farm in Clark County, Wisconsin near the town of Greenwood, when he noticed that something had eaten his grain. He did not own any cattle and the only cattle nearby belonged to his neighbor Fred Zell. John was walking his horses out to the pasture, when he saw his neighbor, Fred, on the road. John called to Fred and said, “Your cattle have been eating my grain.” Fred asked him, “How can you say my stock is eating your grain?” John replied, “Come and see for yourself, you can see the grain is eaten off.” Fred yelled to John, “You son of a bitch. You come on the road and I will fix you!” John said, “No, I don’t want to fight, I am an old man, and all I ask of you is to keep your stock out of my grain.” John heard the gate open, and the next thing he knew Fred had him by the throat, choking him, and pushed him up against the fence post. John took out his knife and tried to cut himself loose. He cut where ever he could. John fell and Fred fell on top of him. John didn’t want to get his eyes cut so he managed to roll over. John woke up lying in the field and an officer was talking to him. John said to the officer, “Leave me lie here a little longer and I will die. I do not want to go to jail.” The office told him that he wasn’t going to take him to jail, but to a doctor. When the officer found John, he had been cut and bleeding. John stated that his side hurt and asked for some water. The officer got him some water and noticed that John was covered with dried blood and flies. The officer also saw that there was blood oozing from John’s leg and at first thought that John had been shot. He ripped the pant leg and saw that he had a gash on his leg. The officer and some other men got a wagon, filled it with hay, got some blankets from John’s house, and took him into town to the doctor. Later that day the officer got a call to take John to the local hotel. He had taken Fred Zell there earlier that day. There was only one room available so he put John in the same room as Fred. This was in place of a hospital as there was no hospital in the town. Two days later John went by the officer’s house and said he was going to walk home. The next day Saturday the officer and district attorney went out to John’s house. They showed him a knife they had gotten from Mrs. Zell and asked him if that was his knife. John said that it was like his except that he had a piece of wood in it so that he could open it easier and this one had the tip of the blade broke off and a small piece of the blade was bent over. A week later on July 6, 1907 John succumbed to the stab wounds in his chest and died alone in his house.[1]
Fred Zell was seriously injured and it took him months to recover. His hand was almost severed from his arm. Fred did recover, but didn’t regain full use of his hand. Fred died in 1932. A newspaper account said that Fred Zell was resting his arm on the gate talking to John about the cattle when all of a sudden John started cutting Fred’s hand. [2]
When I first ran across this story, I had two newspaper accounts and a mention of it in a book.[3][4][5] I didn’t know if John Desens was my great-great grandfather or not. His wife had the same name as my great-great grandmother (already deceased at this time) and his one son (also already deceased at this time) had the same name as a sibling of my great grandfather.[6] I sent for John’s death certificate hoping that the informant would be some relative that I knew, but it did not list an informant.[7] Then last summer I made a trip to Clark County Wisconsin. I asked to see the probate file, but it was no longer kept there. It was now in the state archives. I then asked to see the criminal file for Fred Zell because the paper said most likely he would be charged with John Desens death.[8] I had to pay $5.00 and they would search for it at a later date and send it to me. Then I asked to see land records which I was able to see. The Land records gave a legal description and I was able to locate the farm on a current day map, but it didn’t give me any clues to if this was my ancestor or not. A few weeks later I received the criminal file. There appears to be pages missing, but there are 21 pages of testimony from the officer who found John Desens lying in his yard that day in June. So I only have John’s story through the officer. [9]
Fred Zell’s story is missing. Although, the paper had Zell’s story about how John went after him first.[10] In the end the court did not charge Fred Zell with John Desens death because lack of evidence as to who started the fight.[11] I have some questions and they were not answered in the court documents to my satisfaction. John was 74[12] years old and Fred was 46.[13] It seems to me that Fred would have the advantage being younger and most likely be stronger than John. If John cut first almost severing Fred’s hand, how could Fred have stabbed John? Did Fred have a knife on him to stab John, or did he get John’s knife away from him and use it on John? How did Fred get back to his farm or get help? Why was John left to die? It sounds like he was left lying there in the field for a long time because of the dry blood and flies on him. He was in and out of consciousness. Paper also said Fred Zell was the worse of the two,[14] yet he lived for 25 more years.[15] I think if the investigation was done today that they would be more thorough.
I sent to the state archives for John’s probate file and right on the first page is the evidence that John is my great-great grandfather. It lists my great grandfather Carl Desens at 111 Washington Street, Forest Park, IL as his son.[16] An interesting side note about the probate file. Fred Zell was suing John’s estate for $5000.[17] All of John’s 80 acres were only worth $1200.[18] He did not have much else and had some debts that needed to be paid out of the estate.[19] Fred Zell received $1.00.[20] I find this story very sad. Although I never knew my 2nd great grandfather, I felt sad that he was left in the field to die. I felt anger at the neighbor for his part in this and the fact that he was younger and probably stronger, and frustration at district attorney for not investigating it better. There are so many unanswered questions.
I visited John’s grave when I was up there last summer, however at the time, I was not sure if he was my ancestor or not. I also did not have all the details of the crime. I would like to go back and visit his grave again and take some flowers. I want him to know that someone cares. That I care!
[1] Criminal file for Fred Zell, Clerk of the Court, 517 Court Street, Room 405, Neillsville, Wisconsin 54456. Sent by Elizabeth Frost, Deputy Clerk to Abigail Grunst.
[2] Neillsville times(Neillsville, Clark County, Wis) July 11, 1907.
[6] United Church of Christ East Cemetery Index(formerly the German Immanuel Evangelical & Reformed Church) Warner Township, Clark County, WI, Compiled by Stan and Janet Schwarze.
[7] Death Record of John Desens, Pre -1907 Wisconsin Death Record County Clark, Volume # 01 Page # 438. Filed at the State Historical Archives of Wisconsin, Miroforms room, 816 State Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53706
[8] Marshfield Times ( Marshfield, Wood County, Wis) July 17,1907
[9] Criminal file for Fred Zell, Clerk of the Court, 517 Court Street, Room 405, Neillsville, Wisconsin 54456. Sent by Elizabeth Frost, Deputy Clerk to Abigail Grunst.
[10] Neillsville times(Neillsville, Clark County, Wis) July 11, 1907
[11] Criminal file for Fred Zell, Clerk of the Court, 517 Court Street, Room 405, Neillsville, Wisconsin 54456. Sent by Elizabeth Frost, Deputy Clerk to Abigail Grunst
[12] Death Record of John Desens, Pre -1907 Wisconsin Death Record County Clark, Volume # 01 Page # 438. Filed at the State Historical Archives of Wisconsin, Miroforms room, 816 State Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53706
[13] Obituary of Frederick W. Zell. Greenwood Gleaner (Greenwood, Clark County Wisconsin) August 25, 1932.
[14] Marshfield Times ( Marshfield, Wood County, Wis) July 17,1907
[15] Obituary of Frederick W. Zell. Greenwood Gleaner (Greenwood, Clark County Wisconsin) August 25, 1932.
[16] Probate file for John Desens filed in the McIntyre Library at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, 103 Garfield Ave, Eau Claire, WI 54701.
My Grandfather provided his family with a solid foundation on which to build our lives. He not only provided this to his children, but also to his grandchildren. I knew my maternal grandparents well and they influenced me in a big way. Both of them died when I was 33 years old. They passed away within four months of each other at ages 84 and 82. I grew up just a few blocks from Grandpa and Grandma and I could walk or ride my bike to their house. I spent a lot of time with them growing up. I was just as close when I became an adult.
Grandpa was the foundation of the family. One knew where they stood with him. He said it like it was and did not mince any words. He was not mean, he just let you know what he thought. He was a moral, dependable, hard-working, kind, and a good listener. Many times, I told him my problems and he listened. Sometimes he didn’t offer any advice, he just listened. I found that he was the person that I liked talking to the most because he just listened. When he did give advice, it was always solid.
He had certain beliefs that I remember to this day. You don’t take off work unless you are really sick and a cold wasn’t reason enough to take off work. You worked through your cold; you did not take to bed. You stayed with one job your whole life. You did not quit and go from job to job. Children should have chores, and he would check to make sure they were done. Everyone must be home for dinner and eat together. If you didn’t like what was for dinner you had to sit there anyway until everyone was finished. You were not offered something else to eat. You ate what grandma made or you went hungry, and you must eat everything you put on your plate. There were hungry children in China.
He was definitely a disciplinarian. As a kid you just knew you didn’t cross him and I never tried. I can only remember a couple of times that he had to yell at me and I was devastated. I could not stand for Grandpa to be mad at me or disappointed in me. I mentioned this to my brother one time when were adults and Grandpa was long gone, and my brother said he felt the same way.
Grandpa was a steady as can be. He held down the same job for over 40 years. He and grandma were married 58 years when they passed away. They lived in the same house for over 40 years. He kept his cars for years until he had no choice but to get a new one.
Grandpa was frugal with money. He would repair things around the house until they could no longer be repaired before he would buy new. His parents gave them furniture for a wedding present, and they had that furniture reupholstered twice and still had it at the end of their lives.
My grandfather was a big man, who played sports in his youth. As he got older, he loved watching them on TV. He bowled into his old age and he loved to garden. He had a beautiful yard with flowers and a big vegetable garden. He was a big animal lover and he always had a dog. The last one was a Boxer and Grandpa would take him for walks. He’d save his last bite of food for the dog. The dog knew when it was time for Grandpa to come home from work and he would wait on the front porch for him.
Grandpa loved his family and he passed on his values to his children and grandchildren. So it is for this reason that I say he was our foundation. I married a man much like my grandfather. They both liked each other and got along well.
In his late 70’s he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and it was with great sadness that we watched my once vibrant and intelligent grandfather decline. In the end he did not know us.
I find each year that the younger generation seems to care less about our family traditions. I don’t know if this is true for everyone, but I have talked with a few friends and they also say that their family traditions seem to be going by the wayside. On Thanksgiving they are interested in eating and leaving to go shopping for deals. They seem distracted by their phones and everyone sits looking at their phones instead of having a conversation. If you try to tell family stories, that is old times and old stuff and no cares about the past. They have no desire to know about their ancestors or the even my past.
Christmas 1948 Family
I came from a small family of maybe 10 to 15 people as it varied over the years. We all got together on Christmas Eve and opened gifts. Santa would come and leave a bag of gifts on the front porch, ring the bell, and disappear. My brother and I were the only kids in the family so Christmas Eve was at our house. Christmas Day everyone gathered at my grandparent’s house for dinner. The women would all contribute to the cooking, but my grandmother did the turkey and goose. My grandfather had to have goose. She had a stove in the basement as well as her kitchen. She would run up and down the stairs while cooking both. My grandmother had a big heavy swinging door between the kitchen and dining room which usually remained open, but on holidays when she cooked, she closed it to keep the heat in the kitchen and the house cool. The kitchen was so hot the women would sweat. My job was to set the table and put the olives out. They were lucky that there were olives left as I ate some while putting them out. After dinner the men retired to the living room to watch TV and usually fell asleep, while the women cleaned up and did the dishes. After dishes were done, the adults played cards while my brother and I played with our new toys. I always enjoyed the conversations that went on and that is where I heard a lot of family stories. After the card playing, we would have our dessert and then everyone would depart for home. Thanksgiving was at my grandmothers and was pretty much like Christmas Day. New Years Eve my parents often had parties and it would be mostly their friends and their kids, plus my grandparents and uncle. New Years Day was again at my grandmothers for another big meal. Easter I would find an Easter Basket on the dining room table and then I would hunt for eggs. Then we would get ready for church. Back then everyone dressed up so I always had a new dress, hat, gloves, and new shoes. After Church we would go to my grandmothers and I would hunt for eggs again, but this time outside. My Aunt and cousin would always bring us another Easter Basket. There would be another big dinner at grandmas.
After my grandmother got too old to do all that cooking, my mother started hosting the family dinners. Grandma would still bring a dish to dinner, and she would still help clean up. We still played cards or a board game after our dinners. By this time, my brother and I were old enough to play games with the rest of the family. After I married, I wanted to have Thanksgiving dinner at our house and so I started hosting Thanksgiving dinners, and my mother did Christmas. When the children came along, I also started hosting Christmas Eve so Santa could come deliver the gifts to our house. New Years Day and Easter were at my mom’s. But other than the place we celebrated, everything else remained the same except for a few years when my kids were in a Christmas Eve presentation at church. We would go to church first before opening gifts and Santa coming. There were also a few years where we went to candlelight services at midnight.
When my grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles were all gone. I still tried to carry on our family traditions. There were years that it was only my husband, two kids, my brother, and I that were left. It was up to me to do every holiday meal and plan the activities. I always tried to find a new game every year to keep our game playing interesting. When my kids grew up the family expanded once again. Son number 2 married and eventually had three kids. They would celebrate every other Thanksgiving with us and Christmas Day with us. My brother had a girl friend he lived with for many years but never married. Once again, we had 10 people for our holiday celebrations
At the present time it is hard to keep those traditions going because once again the family has gotten smaller. Son number one never married and had kids. Son number 2 got divorced and his kids are grown up now and they go their own way on holidays. My brother passed away 6 years ago, and my husband two years ago. I still cook for my two sons and we still play games on holidays. I cook the same way my grandmother cooked and the same things. But our holidays just are not the same. They are as good as can be, but I miss those days with everyone. I know when I am gone this family’s traditions will be gone with me.
If they ever decide they are interested in family stories, they are all written down. Some on this blog and all of them on paper in a book.
Eighteen-year-old Mary Fiderius was in love with thirty-four-year-old Isidor G. Manfroid, and on 5 February 1889 they married in Cleveland, Ohio.[1] Between 1889 and 1907 they had a total of eight children of which only five lived to adulthood. [2][3][4][5][6][7] They moved frequently and lived in Pittsburg,[8] Cleveland,[9] Toledo[10] and finally settling in Chicago[11] around 1900. Somewhere between 1908 and 1910 Isidor and Mary divorced.[12] I don’t know the reason for the divorce and have been unable to find the divorce records. Considering Mary’s religion, the only reason for divorce was desertion. I believe that George deserted Mary and she was left with the children trying to support them by herself. In 1908 the oldest child, George was 16 followed by Christine14, Philip 12, Arthur 7 and Theordore 4. There was not enough money to support them all. The older children were in school or could get jobs. If Mary went to work, who was going to take care of the younger children? She had to make a big decision, should she give up her two youngest children? She turned to her church for help and decided to temporarily give up her two youngest sons. Arthur went to St. Mary’s Training school for boys in Des Plaines, Illinois.[13] It was a place for orphans, neglected children, and for children whose mothers could not take care of them. It was run by the Archdiocese of Chicago.[14] Later, St. Mary’s training school became known as Marysville.[15] Theodore went to St. Vincent’s Infant Asylum in Chicago[16] This was also a place for orphans, neglected children and for families who could not support their children and also run by the Archdiocese of Chicago.[17] Mary had already lost 3 children at young ages and now she must give up two. She did not know how long before she would be able to get them back if ever. In 1911 Mary marries Adam Beischer.[18] Adam was working as a cigar maker, and I assume sometime after she remarried, she got her children back. In1920 Arthur now 19, and Theodore now 16, are living with Mary and Adam.[19] Adam helped Mary raise her sons, and they considered Adam their father and Adam considered Arthur and Theodore as his sons. Arthur grew up to become a bookie and owned a tavern in Chicago. He married twice and had no children. Theodore married seven times and had several children by some of his seven wives. Christine was married at least three times and had children by each husband. George and Philip married once and stayed married until their deaths. George had two children and Philip had one child. Mary and Adam stayed married until Adam’s death in 1962. Mary died a few months later in 1962. [20]
[1] Marriage record for G. Isidor Manfroid and Mary Fiderius, State of Ohio, CuyahogaCounty, SS., 5 February 1889.
[2]1900 United States Census, State: Illinois, County: Cook, Township: WestTown, City: Chicago, Enumeration Dist: 293, Ward 10, Sheet 16B, Line 69
[3]Certificate of Birth for Arthur Anton Manfroid, 5 January 1901, State of Illinois , Department of Public Health, Division of vital Statistics registered no 72637, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
[5] Department of Health: City of Chicago: Bureau of Vital Statistics: Undertakers Report of Death for Isidor Manfroid (Son of G. Isidor Manfroid) 12247, 22 March 1901.
[6] Family Search International Genealogical Index V 5.0 North America, Batch No: C748680, Year 1890, Call No. 0499282 V. 38-40 Film type.
[7]Illinois Chicago, Catholic Church Records, 1833-1925 database with images, FamilySearch HY-DY93_dIV?cc+1452409&wc=M66L-STP%3A39600602 : 8 February 2017), Sacred Heart Parish (Melrose Park)> Baptisms Marriages 1893-1908 > image 22 of 26; Catholic Church parishes, Chicago Diocese, Chicago.
[8] Family Search International Genealogical Index V 5.0 North America, Batch No: C748680, Year 1890, Call No. 0499282 V. 38-40 Film type.
[9]Cleveland City Directories 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897 list George Manfroid living at 235 Herald, Cleveland, Ohio
[10]Toledo City Directories 1898, 1899, 1900 listed George Manfroid as living at 259 Caldonia and 255 Woodford, Toledo, Ohio
[11]1900 United States Census, State: Illinois, County: Cook, Township: WestTown, City: Chicago, Enumeration Dist: 293, Ward 10, Sheet 16B, Line 69
[12] Children Georgius Isidor was born in 1907 and Arthur and Theodore are living in institutions in 1910. I deduced that George and Mary must have divorced between 1907 and 1910.
[13]1910 United States Census, Wheeling, Cook, Illinois; Roll T624-241, Page 21B, Enumeration District 0132; FHL microfilm 1374254.
[18] Obituary for Adam Beischer, Oak Park Leaves May 17, 1962, P.76
[19] Year: 1920; Census Place: Forest Park, Cook, Illinois; Roll: T625 362; Page: 20B Enumeration District: 185; Image 696. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, Utah, USA. Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009. Images reproduced by Familysearch.. Original Data: Fourteenth Census of the Untited States 1920; (National Archives Microfilm Publication T625, 2076 rolls) Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington D.C.
[20] From Author, Gail Grunst’s, personal knowledge.
While researching my great grandfather, Carl Desens, I found a surprise on the 1900 Federal Census. In addition to Carl, his wife Augusta and their children there is Dorothea Zoschke listed as Carl’s mother-in-law living with them.[1] Dorothea would be my great grandmother, Augusta’s mother, taking me back another generation. But I knew that Augusta’s maiden name was Gabbi (Gabbie, Gabbei). I knew this from my grandmother, Helen Desen’s marriage record and from Church Records.[2][3] If Dorothea’s name is not Gabbi, then she must have remarried. The 1900 Federal Census lists Dorothea as a widow, her birth year as 1828, her age as 72, and year of immigration as 1890.[4] I searched ship records for Dorothea Zoschke and did not find her, however I did find a Dorothea Gabbei coming to the US on 27 May 1890 from Bremen and Southampton to New York aboard the ship Elbe.[5] She is 64 years old and her occupation is a Gentleman’s Servant.[6] There is a two year age difference between the documents, but the year of immigration is the same. She must have remarried here in the US, but I have been unable to find a record of it. Dorothea died in 1901 and is buried in Concordia Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois.[7]
If I had not already known my great grandmother, Augusta’s maiden name, I might have thought that it was Zoschke and gone down the wrong path. It’s always nice to find a surprise when you least expect it.
[1] Year: 1900; Census Place: Proviso, Cook, Illinois; Roll: 294; Page: 53; Enumeration District: 1182; FHL microfilm: 1240294. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls.
[3] “Confirmation Record for Helen Desens,” born 23 March 1900, confirmed 5 April 1914, St. St John Congregational book 1908 – 1926, Page 227. Book located at John Lutheran Church, 305 Circle Ave., Forest Park, Cook County, Illinois.
[5] Year: 1890; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 549; Line: 12; List Number: 732. Source Information: Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897. Microfilm Publication M237, 675 rolls. NAI: 6256867. Records of the U.S. Customs Service, Record Group 36. National Archives at Washington, D.C.
