Family History

My Breakthrough Moment

/ Gail Grunst Genealogy / Leave a comment

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 Greenwood The 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.

Week 5 Break through moment 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Copyright © Gail Grunst 2026

[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.

[4] Found on website Clark County Wisconsin History  Desens, Herman (1871-1901), Obituary, Clark Co., WI

[5] Found on website Clark County Wisconsin History DeathIndexes1873_1908

[6] Found on website Clark County Wisconsin History  Immanuel East Living Index D

[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

[9]  Ibid.

[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).

Helen suffered many hardships

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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.

Week 3 What this story means to me 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

I love and miss you!

/ Gail Grunst Genealogy / 2 Comments
  • Bruce Grunst 1941 – 2020

I haven’t posted in awhile.  My husband was sick for several years and in the last two years I became his full-time caretaker.  He succumbed to his illness on June 8, 2020.  Since his passing, I am having hard time getting back to my genealogy and this blog.  This last week I have worked on genealogy again.  Today I thought I would do a short post to let everyone know I am still here and hope to post more often now that I have more time and things (I hope) have settled down.  

We had a nice grave site ceremony for my husband with the Marines and a flag ceremony.  Afterwards, we had a picnic lunch at the state park near our home, one of my husband’s favorite places. 

He loved the outdoors and nature.  Before he got sick our favorite thing to do was to go camping in our trailer and before that in our pop-up trailer, and tent camping when we were young.  

He also loved cars and all things mechanical.  His first car was a 54 Buick that he inherited from his father.  When I met Bruce he owned a ’69 Plymouth Barracuda and ’69 450 Honda Motorcycle.  I have many fond memories of our motorcycle adventures.  He noticed me because of my ’69 Camaro Convertible. 

We traveled all over the United States and saw many of the National Parks. Our favorite is Glacier National Park in Montana.  We have been to most states.  Our plan was to drive to Alaska when I retired, but it was not to be.  By the time I retired there was no way that Bruce could have endured a trip like that.  But I have many good memories the trips we did take.

Bruce loved sports and played baseball, softball, tennis, and ran. He was an avid sports fan of the White Sox, Cubs, and Bears. He enjoyed working on his own cars and machines. He was very handy around the house building us a fireplace and cabinets. His last few years his physical activity was diminished until he was unable to walk. It was so sad to watch my once athletic husband unable to do things for himself that he once enjoyed.

We were together 49 years and hoping for 50.  If you count the year we dated, we were together 50.  

  • Wedding Party

On Bruce’s last day I told him that we didn’t have an easy life, but we had a good life.  He told me he was happy and thank me for taking care of him.  There was no need to thank me, I would do it all over again. As he took his last breath, he held my hand and squeezed it. It was his last “I love you” to me.   I love him and miss him, but at least he suffers no more and is at peace. 

Memories of Aunt Fran

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frances-bowers-beckLaVon Frances Bowers was born on 19 February 1900[1] to Eva Fredricka Reinhardt and Robert Bowers in Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois.[2]  Frances married William Beck on 27 June 1925.[3]  They had one child LaVon Patricia born 20 November 1932.[4]  LaVon used hermiddle name and was better known as Frances.  I knew her as Aunt Fran.  She was my grandmother, Helen Bowers Kaiser‘s sister.   She also had a brother, Ralph Bowers. I never knew Aunt Fran’s husband as she divorced before I was born.

Although she was born in Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois she lived most of her life in Chicago.  Aunt Fran loved the city.  She was a city girl, but also a tom boy.  She would go fishing and camping.  My grandmother said that she (my grandmother) would stay at the campsite and do the cooking and washing the dishes.  Fran would be with the guys fishing.  When I was a little girl around 5 or 6 we took a trip with Aunt Fran and her daughter Pat to Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri.  Somewhere I have a picture of Aunt Fran cleaning fish.  I remember that she got jigger bites from sitting in the weeds.

Aunt Fran loved to shop and she would find the most unusual things.  She would bring us frog legs, rattlesnake meat, and all kinds of weird things.  I would never eat any of it.  She also gave great parties.  She would come to our house and decorate for my birthday parties and she would find all kinds of neat things for party favors and prizes.  When I was a little older around 12 – 14 years old, I started having Halloween Parties.  Aunt Fran and her daughter would come out to our house and decorate, run the games, and they would be in costume too.  Aunt Fran loved to play the witch.  One little boy told her that she made the best witch.  She loved the compliment.

Aunt Fran loved to sew and she did it for living.  She made all my clothes until I went to school.  I got my first store bought dress when I went to Kindergarten.  At first she worked in the sweat shops sewing, but later she worked in bridal shops and made wedding dresses and formals.  She would bring me formals but I had never had any place to wear them.  My girl friends and I would dress up in them and pretend we were going somewhere fancy.   She would take me shopping at the beginning of every school year and buy me two or three dresses.

I would stay with her and her daughter for a week every summer and they would take me all over Chicago.  I had a lot of fun and looked forward to it.  They would come out to my grandmother’s house almost every weekend.  They would arrive by train early Saturday morning and leave late Sunday afternoon or early evening.  They always brought me something so I looked forward to their visits.  Aunt Fran’s daughter Pat is14 years older than me and my Godmother.

Aunt Fran died 17 July 1971 in Chicago, Cook, Illinois of a massive cerebral vascular accident.  She had her body donated to science.[5]

Copyright©2016

_______________________________________________________

[1] Death Certificate, State of Illinois, County of Cook, City of Chicago, Registration No. 620423

[2] Told to Author Abigail Grunst by Francis Bowers Beck

[3] From Helen Bowers Kaiser’s (Frances Bowers Beck’s sister) date book.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Death Certificate, State of Illinois, County of Cook, City of Chicago, Registration No. 620423

Generation after Generation

/ Gail Grunst Genealogy / 2 Comments

When studying my ancestors, I think about their lives.  I think about the hardships they endured.  What I find was so common in past generations is early deaths, deaths of children or young adults.  When trying to piece together the family of a great-grandmother or a great-grandfather, I’ll find children who died. I find that so sad and think about how the mother must have grieved for her child.  I’ll find young mothers who died in childbirth, young adults who died of influenza, pneumonia, or appendicitis.  Today these kinds of things are very curable.  In so many other ways we have it better than the generations before us.  We have the advantage of modern medicine.  We have the conveniences of dishwashers, microwaves, washing machines, dryers, vacuum  cleaners, refrigerators, indoor plumbing.  We also have things that entertain us such as TV’s, radios, smart phones, computers, and the Internet.  Information is at our finger tips.  Want a book to read tonight? Download an e-book to your eReader.  Need to go to the store?  Hop in your car and your there in a few minutes, no matter time of day or night.   You don’t have to go back very far to remember when there was no Internet, cell phones, electronic games, microwaves, etc.

Socially we have become accustomed to women working outside the home, people living together and having children, abortions, mixed race couples and children, gay marriage, and now we are dealing with transgender bathrooms.  Generations ago no one ever thought about these things.   So it makes one wonder if we are better off today than generations ago.

Back when people didn’t have the conveniences and access to information at their fingertips, their lives seemed simpler in a lot of ways.  Men went to work, and women stayed home to take care of children and house.  Each had their role, and I think for the most part were satisfied.  At least it seemed that way in my family.  I think my mom and grandmother were content to stay home.  They did things to keep busy and save money that is lost today because working women just don’t have time to do it.  They sewed, baked, cooked from scratch, washed clothes in a wringer washing machine, hung them out to dry, and then had to iron them.  They cleaned the house made sure the children were fed, washed, loved, did their homework, and went to bed at a decent time.  They made sure we ate dinner together every night. When they went grocery shopping they didn’t always have a car so they walked and pulled a wagon for their groceries.  Milk and bread were delivered.  If you lived on a farm there was even more to be done.  Come fall they would start canning all the vegetables they grew during the summer months or the fruit from the fruit trees.  My grandmother would make crabapple and grape jelly from the grapes and crabapples in her own yard.  They gave us chores to do to.  It might be the kids that washed the dishes, cut the grass, took out the garbage, shoveled the snow, and whatever else they could find for us to do.   Sunday we went to church in the morning and later that day the whole family got together for a meal, and we just enjoyed each other’s company and talk about the week.  Saturday night might be a night that friends got together and played cards and talked while the kids played.

I think some of the things we have today are nice and I wouldn’t want to do without them.  I do however worry about family traditions.  Even in our small family as much as I try to keep some of them, it’s a losing battle, the younger generation seems like they just don’t value the same things.  We still have holiday dinners and even some Sunday dinners.  But everyone is in a hurry to finish and go back to watching football, baseball, or whatever the sport may be at the moment, or they are looking at their phones and messaging their friends, or on the computer, or playing a video game.  No one wants to sit and have a conversation or play a board game where we can all be together.  I think there will come a time when they will regret it.  These distractions were not around when my parents were here so I actually spent time with them.   I miss them, and I would give anything to have one more conversation with them.

I picture in years to come that there will be no one around to be the one to carry on family traditions and dinners.  Everyone will eat whenever and whatever they want.  They will spend all their time online, texting who knows who, and not know their own family members.  Hope I am wrong!  Only time will tell.

Daily Prompt: Generation

Copyright © 2016 Gail Grunst

 

Aunt Emma’s Two Lives

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Emma age 19

Emma age 19

My grandmother had three Aunt’s, Aunt Emma, Aunt Liz, and Aunt Agnes.  Each one had an interesting life.  I wrote about Aunt Liz in my blog dated 4/13/2013.  Today I am writing about Aunt Emma.

Emma Reinhardt was born on June 6, 1885 in Illinois.,[1] [2]  Emma was raised in Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois along with her two brothers and four sisters.  Not much is known about Emma’s early life.  In 1910 at age 25 she married Dr. Fredrick L. Orsinger[3] who was 33 years her senior.[4]  He had been married before and had five children with his first wife who died in 1903.[5]

Fredrick L. Orsinger came to the United States from Germany in 1871.  He arrived in Chicago on the same day as the Chicago Fire.  He decided not to stay in Chicago at this time and went to LaSalle, Illinois to work in his Uncle’s bakery.  He later opened a pharmacy in LaSalle and practiced medicine.  He studied medicine and surgery in Zurich, Switzerland and Paris, France.   He later spent five years studying medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago, and later had a years experience working at Cook County Hospital. [6]   He had quite a colorful life too.  I am not going to write about it at this time as I would like to concentrate on Emma’s life.  I will write about his life in more detail at another time.

My grandmother had told me that the Reinhardt’s and Orsinger’s were friends.  I know there was an Orsinger’s Bakery in Ottawa.  I don’t know if they had another one in LaSalle or if the source is wrong about the location of the bakery.  However, Emma would have not been born yet when he came to LaSalle County.  By the time she was old enough to get married he was living in Chicago.  So how they got together is unknown.  I’m guessing that they knew each other because the families were friends.  I still can’t help but wonder how her family felt about the age difference, and how his children felt as some were older than Emma.  My grandmother would say with disgust in her voice, “Aunt Emma married old Doc Orsinger.”  They lived in Chicago and he practice medicine in Chicago. Dr. Orsinger died in 1925.[7]

In 1933 Emma married Iber Mataway in Chicago.[8]  He was from Iran and changed his name when he was naturalized from Isaac Abraham to Iabry Abraham Mataway.[9]  They must have led a quiet life.  I can’t find them in many records.  He was 12 years her junior.[10]  She went from some way older than her to someone quite a bit younger than her.

I’ve had a hard time finding them on any census records.  I do know they lived on a farm in Wisconsin.  I also know they lived in an apartment in Chicago, Illinois.  My mother loved Aunt Emma and she would stay with her sometimes in Chicago and on the farm in Wisconsin when she was young.  I believe they lived in Chicago, then moved to the farm in Wisconsin, and then moved back to Chicago.

I have a letter that Emma wrote to her sister Liz.   I will try to transcribe it as written with mistakes and all. 

Sat Mch. 1 – 1947 

Dear Eliz,

            Just a few lines, as we are trying to get ready to go to Saxon to shop.  We got your package yesterday.  Everything was swell.  And thanks so much.  So what do I owe you for groceries.  The shirts will come in handy this summer at laying time. Even good enough to go to town in as you don’t have to dress up so much around here.  Gosh, I’ve been rushing around, the oil man came first thing this morning, I was just about out of bed.  Iber was milking, then I had to look after him.  By the time he filled all the tanks and checked them, Iber came in for breakfast, and now I just got thru with the dishes, milk pails, and strainers.  Iber has been hauling hay everyday.  He got 4 or 5 tons of hay very cheap, but has to haul it himself.  It keeps a person busy, but it isn’t bad.  Well, I don’t know if you can say March came in like a loin or not.  It was quite warm this morning, but now it has turned a little cooler and is snowing that fine snow.  So I hope it doesn’t get too bad until we get back at least.  Well, I was so surprised at that article of Fred Orsinger.  It was funny, I opened the box and I thought it was just some paper you stuck in for a filler.  Then a couple of hours later, I was straightening everything up, so I looked again and was looking at the man with the alligator.  And, I said to myself that man reminds me of Doc.  He combs his hair just like he did.  So I threw it in with the rest of the papers.  When Iber came in he happened to see it, and asked me what he was doing with an alligator.  I said oh I don’t know let me see.  Well, when I read it, I started to laugh.  No wonder he minded me of Doc.  That was so funny.  He is quite a big shot.  Gosh he is getting old.  I figured he would be about 70. 

I suppose you received my last letter.  I too wish poor Tim could at least be able to go into the other room.  I may be down sometime in the middle of April if nothing happens.  Then he had better get up or I’ll pull him out of bed.  I hope Mrs. Fox is home by morn, poor soul.  I suppose she feels quite alone since he is gone.  Is she going to stay there in the apartment.  Have you heard yet from Mark.  Iber says to tell Tim to keep his chin up.

I do wish Iber could make a trip to Chicago.  Well, we’ll see how things turn up.  He needs a change.  I feel guilty when I go all the time.  I guess Clara is going to stay in her apt. for a while.  Well, if I have forgotten anything I’ll write it next time.  I must get ready.  Iber is almost thru shaving. 

Love to you both and God Bless you as ever.  Emma & Iber 

The Fred Orsinger she mentions in the letter is the son of her late husband.  I am posting the original letter here.

Letter from Aunt Emma 2

Letter from Aunt Emma 3

Letter from Aunt Emma 1Letter from Aunt Emma 4

I remember visiting Aunt Emma a couple of times in her apartment in Chicago.  She made a doll bed for me out of a wooden cigar box.  I wish I had a picture of it.  She painted it white and it had a headboard.  The legs were cloths pins (the old fashioned wood ones) cut down so only the top curved part was used for the legs.  She made a little mattress and pillows.  She made a blanket and crocheted a bedspread for it.  I loved it and had it for a long time.  I found instructions for making one on the Internet, and also found pictures, but none that looked as good as mine.  Mostly what I remember of Aunt Emma was a very nice old lady and the doll bed.

I think the first half of her life was probably more eventful than the last half.  Being married to “Old Doc Orsinger” must have been very eventful from some of the things I have read about him.  Like I said, that is for another time.  The second half of her life being married to Iber, her life was quiet.  Reading the letter, her life was just about the ordinary every day things like the weather, washing dishes, milk pails and strainers.  The exciting time was going to town.  I wish I knew more about her life.  As far as I know, she never had any children to carry on her legacy.  I hope I helped a little to carry on her legacy today.

Aunt Emma, my mom, Aunt Liz 1943

Aunt Emma, my mom, Aunt Liz 1943

Emma died on August 18, 1956, and Iber died in 1974.

Copyright © 2013 Gail Grunst

[1] Emma Reinhart’s birth date June 6 came from Helen Kaiser’s (her niece) date book.

[2] 1900 United State Census entry for Emma Reinhardt.  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.  Ancestry.com 1900 United States Federal Census.  [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA:  Ancestry Operations, Inc.,2004.

[3] Joseph Seymour Curry, Chicago: its history and its builders, a century of marvelous growth, volume 4 (Chicago:  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1912), Pgs. 624 – 628. Digitized by Google.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Find-a-grave website at www.findagrave.com

[8]Ancestry.com.  Cook County, Illinois Marriage Index, 1920 – 1960  [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA:  Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.

[9] Naturalization Record for Iabry Abraham Mataway name chanced at naturalization from Isaac Abraham. Ancestry.com. US Naturalization Record Indexes, 1791 – 1992 (Indexed in World Archive Project) [database on-line].  Provo, UT, USA:  Ancestry Operations, Inc., 2010.  Original data: Selected U.S. Naturalization Records.  WashingtonD.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.

[10] Ibid.

Aunt Liz’ Secret Life

/ Gail Grunst Genealogy / 2 Comments

Aunt Liz is the smaller one.

Aunt Liz is the smaller one.

 

My grandmother had three aunts, her mother’s sisters, Aunt Liz, Aunt Emma, and Aunt Agnes.  I had the privilege to know all of them, some better than others.  Today I’m writing about Aunt Liz as I think she is the most colorful one of the three or led the most secretive life.

Aunt Liz was born Elizabeth Reinhardt on February 10, 1881 in Amana, Iowa[1].  Two Years later the family moved to Ottawa, Illinois.[2]  Aunt Liz had two brothers and four sisters.[3]  Her father worked as a shoemaker and owned a shop in Ottawa.[4]

I knew Aunt Liz probably the best out of the three.  She lived in Ottawa, Illinois with family friends.  We would go down to Ottawa from Villa Park, IL several times a year to visit Aunt Liz.  My parents and grandparents were friends with the family she was living with, and I was friends with their daughter who was near my age.  I went down there for a week or two every summer to visit my friend.  Of course, Aunt Liz was there, and I would talk with her.  This was long before my interest in genealogy so we never talked about her family or her parents.  By the time I knew her she was old, and I would have never imagined that she was a sort of rebel in her youth.

It was always known in the family that Aunt Liz had an illegitimate son, Milton. I wrote about Milton on my blog dated January 14, 2013.  Milton was born in 1900[5] and Aunt Liz kept Milton and raised him.  Unfortunately, Milton died at the young age of 17.[6]  I had heard about her son Milton, but thought OK she made a mistake so what.  I knew she married later and was married a long time, but never had any more children or so I thought.

While researching Milton, I remembered my grandmother talking about how Aunt Liz went to California to visit her daughter.  I’m not sure of time frame, but I estimate that it was around 1964 or 65.  My grandmother was shocked to learn that Aunt Liz had a daughter. Everyone who knew Aunt Liz was surprised to hear that she had a daughter.

I decided to look for information on this child.  I found that she did have another child born in 1905 in Chicago, Illinois. The father is listed as Timothy Farrell on the birth record, and she named the daughter Helen.[7]  I found this strange because Aunt Liz was married to Timothy Farrell.  So why didn’t she keep her?  Now I needed to find out when she got married to Timothy.  The search continued on, and I found she married Tim in 1920.[8]  Now my question was why did she wait until 1920 to marry Tim?  I thought maybe he was married.   I next search the census records for 1910 and he was single, I found him on the 1900 census also single.[9] [10] I found her on the 1900 and 1910 census listed as single also.[11] [12] They lived a couple of blocks apart in Ottawa.  Why did she give up this child and not marry the father when she found out she was pregnant?  She kept one child, but not the other.  I find this odd.  I don’t know if I will ever know the answer.  I continued to search for Helen Farrell.  I found her on the 1920 census living at the Mary A. Judy Industrial School for Girls in Middlefork, Vermillion, Illinois.[13]  An Internet search turned up that the school was for girls who were having a hard time adjusting to foster care or had difficult family situations.[14]  I lose Helen after that.  She probably married, but I have no idea where or to whom and there are a lot of Helen Farrell’s.

In the mean time, my son, who into photography, found a picture I had of Aunt Liz when she was 18 years old with some things I have of hers.  She is in a fancy gown standing on a winding stair case.  It looked like it had been cut out of magazine because it was on magazine type paper.  Someone had written on the photograph Elizabeth age 18. My son knew someone who was into period clothing, and asked her to date the picture.  She said it looked like it was from around 1900 and it wasn’t the kind of dress that you would wear on the street.  It was more like a theatrical dress.  Aunt Liz would have been 18 in 1899.  So this information was correct.  Maybe the picture was from a play bill. What was she doing in play?  What was the play?  What part did she play?  These questions are still unanswered.  She never said anything about being in play to me, and I don’t remember any one else in the family talking about it.

Aunt Liz in theatrical dress

Aunt Liz in theatrical dress

 

I kept on searching the Internet and found that a Thomas Farrell owned a theater in Ottawa, Illinois.[15]  Now things were starting to make more sense.  At first I thought this was Timothy’s brother because on the census records he had a brother Thomas.[16]  But then when I researched the Thomas Farrell who owned the theater his age didn’t match Timothy’s brother Thomas.[17] Perhaps the Thomas Farrell that owned the theater is an uncle or cousin.  I do feel that they are connected somehow. Maybe Aunt Liz knew Timothy Farrell and this helped her get a part in a play or maybe she met him because she was performing at this theater.  Maybe it was neither.

After Aunt Liz married Timothy Farrell in 1920,[18] they lived in Chicago;[19] and they were married until Timothy died in 1947.[20]  Aunt Liz died on 5 August 1966[21] and is buried in the Ottawa Avenue Cemetery in Ottawa, La Salle, Illinois along side her husband Timothy Farrell and son Milton[22]

Aunt Liz 1963 or 64

Aunt Liz 1963 or 64

Copyright © 2013 Gail Grunst

[1] Birth record for Elizabeth Reinhardt.  Iowa County Births 1880 – 1835 Index, (https//Familysearch.org)

[2] Family story that they left Amana, Iowa in 1883.  Told to author by her grandmother Helen Bower’s Kaiser in 1979.

[3] Census Record for Elizabeth Reinhardt, parent, brothers & sisters.  Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry 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 Record Administration, 1900. T623. 1854 rolls.

[4] Death Record for Conrad John Reinhardt 6 July 1922, Chicago, Cook, Illinois.  State of Illinois, Department of Public Health, Division of Vital Statistics, Registration number 17200.

[5] “ Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths 1916 – 1947,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/N3ZX-9YT): Milton Reinhardt 28 Mar 1918: citing reference FHL microfilm 1544185

[6] “ Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths 1916 – 1947,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/N3ZX-9YT): Milton Reinhardt 28 Mar 1918: citing reference FHL microfilm 1544185

[7] Birth record for Helen Farrell 29 May 1905, Illinois, Cook County Birth Certificates, 1878 – 1922.  Department of Health, City of Chicago.

[8] “Illinois cook county Marriages 1871 – 1920” index. FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org).  Timothy Farrell and Elizabeth Reinhardt 4 October 1920.

[9] “United States Census, 1910,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org), Timothy Farrell in the household of Elizabeth Farrell (sister).  Ottawa Ward 5, La Salle, Illinois; citing sheet 14A, Family 291, NARA Microfilm publication T624, FHL microfilm 1374314.

[10] “United States Census 1900,” index and images, FamilySearch(https:familysearch.org), Timothy Farrell in entry for James Farrell, 1900.  United States Census 1900, Illinois, LaSalle, ED 77 Ottawa Township, OttawaCity Ward 5, Image 6 of 34

[11] 1900 Census entry for Elizabeth Reinhardt.  Ancestry.com. 1900 Untied States 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 of 1854 rolls.

[12] 1910 Census entry for Elizabeth Reinhardt. Year: 1910; Census Place: Ottawa Ward 5, LaSalle, Illinois; Roll T624_301; Page: 11 A; Enumeration District: 0129; Image: ; FHL microfilm 1374314.

[13] 1920 Census entry for Helen Farrell ; Middlefork, Vermillion, Illinois; Roll T625 412; Page 14A; Enumeration District: 194; Image: 418.  Ancestry.com. 1920 Untied States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA:  Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.  Images reproduced by FamilySearch

[14] Mary A. Judy Industrial School for Girls. http://www.illinoishsglorydays.com/id884.html

[15] Ottawa Illinois in 1900; Ottawa, Illinois; E. A. Nattinger Thomas Farrell, page 122.  Reprint by the LaSalle County Illinois Genealogical Guild. 1995 Google books http://books.google.com

[16] “United States Census 1900,” index and images, FamilySearch(https:familysearch.org), Timothy Farrell in entry for James Farrell, 1900.  United States Census 1900, Illinois, LaSalle, ED 77 Ottawa Township, OttawaCity Ward 5, Image 6 of 34

[17] 1900 United States Census entry for Thomas Farrell. Year: 1900; Census Place:  Ottawa Ward 2, LaSalle, Illinois; Roll 317; Page: 7A; Enumeration District: 0074; FHL microfilm: 1240317.  Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Cencus [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA:  Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2004

[18] “Illinois, Cook County Marriages, 1871 – 1929” Index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org) Timothy and Elizabeth Reinhardt, 04 Oct 1920.

[19] 1940 United States Census entry for Timothy and Elizabeth Farrell.  Year: 1940; Census Place:  Chicago, Cook, Illinois; Roll: T627 947; Page 15 A; Enumeration District:  103-865.  Ancestry.com.  1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line].  Provo, UT, USA:  Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

[20] “Illinois, Death and Stillbirths, 1916 – 1947” index, FamilySearch (Https://familysearch.org) Timothy J. Farrell 21 May 1947.

[21] Death record for Elizabeth Farrell.  Ancestry.com. Cook County, Illinois Death Index 1908 – 1988 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.

[22] Personal knowledge of author from being at funeral in 1966 and visiting graves whenever I am in Ottawa, Illinois.