23 January 2011

Jan. 2011, Weeks 2 and 3: Marriage and death of Joseph Andrew HUIGENS

I was too busy last weekend to create a post on my grandparents' wedding.  This week I'm playing catch up by doubling up.
 Joe obtained a license to marry Miss Julia KAIN from the county judge of Knox Co., NE on Fri., 13 Feb 1914.  The name of the judge was D.C. Laird.

The wedding took place on Wed., 18 Feb 1914.  It most likely took place at St. Ludger's Catholic Church in Creighton, NE since the pastor, Fr. William Windolph officiated.  The witnesses on the  marriage certificate were Richard Kain, brother of the bride, and Emily Huigens, sister of the groom.

My grandfather died on 8 Nov 1957, when I was 6 months old.  He was 66.  He died at his home in Rushville, Sheridan Co., NE.  The cause of death on the death certificate is Uremia.  Basically his kidneys failed due to chronic Glomerulonephritis, inflammation of the glomeruli, or small blood vessels in the kidneys.  He was buried in St. Mary's Cemetery in Rushville.
 This is a picture of my grandparents taken a few months before his death.

I wish I had had a chance to know my grandfather.  Next week I'll have some miscellaneous info on him.

Surname Saturday: 37 Felder

More of my German ancestors from before there was a Germany.

1. Kevin Joseph HUIGENS

2. Joseph Anthony HUIGENS
3. Shirley Ann OGDEN

4. Joseph Andrew HUIGENS (b. 9 Mar 1891 near Creighton, Knox Co., NE, m. 18 Feb 1914 at St. Ludgers Catholic Church in Creighton, Knox Co., NE, d. 8 Nov 1957 in Rushville, Sheridan Co., NE)
5. Mary Julia KAIN (b. 19 May 1896 in Knox Co., NE, d. 29 Apr 1979 in Rushville, Sheridan Co., NE)

8. John Edward HUIGENS (b. 15 Jun 1862 near Henry, Marshall Co., m. 28 Jan 1884 at St. Mary's Catholic Church, Henry, Marshall Co., IL, d. 12 Apr 1949 in Creighton, Knox Co., NE)
9. Mary FITZLER (b. 22 Feb 1866 in Marshall Co., IL, d. 6 Feb 1949 in Creighton, Knox Co., NE)

18. Johan Wimer "Wymer" FITZLER (b. 23 Jul 1832 in Wolperath, Rhein Province, Prussia, m. at St. Patrick Catholic Church, LaSalle, LaSalle Co., IL, d. abt 1888 in Marshall Co., IL)
19. Anna Helene SCHMITT (b. 17 Aug 1833 in Eischeid, Rhein Province, Prussia, d. 20 May 1904 in Creighton, Knox Co., NE)

36. Wimar FITZLER (b. 29 Dec 1774 in Wolperath, Palatinate, HRE, m. 25 Aug 1820 in Neunkirchen, Juelich-Cleves-Berg Province, Prussia, d. after 1834 in Prussia)
37. Anna Margaretha FELDER (b. 9 Apr 1798 in Wiescheid, Palatinate, HRE, d. after 1834 in Prussia)

74. Heinrich FELDER (b. Niederhorbach, Germany)
75. Anna Christina JACOBS

Not sure what the political situation of Niederhorbach was in the time frame when Hienrich was born.  Today it is a municipality with about 500 inhabitants located in the Südliche Weinstrasse district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.  It is part of the Bad Bergzabern Verbandsgemeinde ("collective municipality").

16 January 2011

Surname Saturday - 35: Schmitt

This week I'm starting on the maiden names of my great-great-great-grandmothers.  At least those that I know. #33 would be next after last week's posting of #31, but I don't know the name of Evert Huigens's mother. Her first name is likely Maria; that's all I've got.

So I'm moving on to my great-great-grandmother's mother.

1. Kevin Joseph HUIGENS

2. Joseph Anthony HUIGENS
3. Shirley Ann OGDEN

4. Joseph Andrew HUIGENS (b. 9 Mar 1891 near Creighton, Knox Co., NE, m. 18 Feb 1914 at St. Ludgers Catholic Church in Creighton, Knox Co., NE, d. 8 Nov 1957 in Rushville, Sheridan Co., NE)
5. Mary Julia KAIN (b. 19 May 1896 in Knox Co., NE, d. 29 Apr 1979 in Rushville, Sheridan Co., NE)

8. John Edward HUIGENS (b. 15 Jun 1862 near Henry, Marshall Co., m. 28 Jan 1884 at St. Mary's Catholic Church, Henry, Marshall Co., IL, d. 12 Apr 1949 in Creighton, Knox Co., NE)
9. Mary FITZLER (b. 22 Feb 1866 in Marshall Co., IL, d. 6 Feb 1949 in Creighton, Knox Co., NE)

16. Evert HUIGEN (b. 6 Dec 1827 in Holland, Netherlands, m. ? in ?, d. 27 Feb 1864 in Marshall Co., IL)
17. Catherine TOEMMES (b. 6 Jan 1827 in Trassem, Kreis Saarburg, Prussia, d. 22 Feb 1899 in Morgan Co., IL)

34. Johann TOEMMES (b. 1790 in Trassem, Kreis Saarburg, Prussia, m. 1815 at St. Hubertus Catholic Church in Trassem, Kreis Saarburg, Prussia, d. ? in ?)
35. Maria SCHMITT (b. 29 Sept 1796 in Trassem, Kreis Saarburg, Prussia, d. 4 Nov 1869 in Marshall Co., IL)

As I posted before, the genealogy of this line comes from on-line an alphabetical listing of births and marriages extracted from the book Zwischen Saar und Leuk 1675-1900 [Between Saar and Leuk]. This book is a compilation of area church records.  I have not taken the time to track down Maria Schmitt's parents.

This is the second of my Schmitt lines.  This first is from the area around Neunkirchen-Seelscheid in the south of North Rhein-Westphalia, Germany.  This line comes from near Trier in Rhineland-Palitinate.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Ancestral Name List Roulette

This week's assignment:
  1. How old is one of your grandfathers now, or how old would he be if he had lived? Divide this number by 4 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette number."
  2. Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the person with that number in your ancestral name list (some people call it an "ahnentafel"). Who is that person?
  3. Tell us three facts about that person in your ancestral name list with the "roulette number."
I'm going with my maternal grandfather, Emery OGDEN. He would be 114 if he were still alive. 114 divided by 4 is 28.5. Rounded up that'd be 29. Person number 29 in my ancestral name list is Christina Lotta Jönsdotter, my maternal grandmother's paternal grandmother. Or to make it even more complicated: the mother of Emery's father-in-law.

The facts about Stina:
  1. She was born on the 4th of July. That was in 1839 in Slottsbäcken, Locknevi, Kalmar, Småland, Sweden.
  2. She arrived in NYC with her husband and children on 25 Apr 1881 aboard the "City of Paris."
  3. She died on 10 Oct 1919 in Gordon, Sheridan Co., NE.

10 January 2011

Myster Monday: My grandmother's "real" name

We called my paternal grandmother "Grandma Julia." When my mother started doing genealogy, she listed her maiden name as "Mary Julia KAIN." She is listed in every US Census record as "Julia." In the Social Security Death Index, she appears as "Julia Huigens." On her SS-5 application for Social Security, she listed her name as "Mary Julia." Our assumption has always been that, in typical Irish fashion, she used her middle name insted of the ubiquitous "Mary."

But on my father's birth certificate her maiden name is listed as "Julia Marian KAIN." Where did that come from? How am I supposed to assess that evidence? Did someone other than my grandmother provide the information for my dad's birth certificate? Did my grandmother unofficially change her name for some reason? What counts as an "official" name in the days before registered births?

My research plans for resolving this mystery consist of looking for a delayed birth certificate and baptism records from St. Ludger's Catholic Church in Creighton. I'd consider a baptism certificate to be more primary than any of the other documents. If a person starts using a different name than the one they were given at birth, does that then become their "official" name? I'm sure they would think so.

In any case, she will always be "Grandma Julia" to me.

09 January 2011

Jan. 2011, Week 1: Birth of Joseph Andrew HUIGENS

My blogging plan for 2011 revolves around the fact that I have twelve grandparents and great-grandparents. That works out nicely for covering one a month.  Each month has four weeks, more or less.  In the first three weeks I'll cover the basics of birth, marriage and death.  In the fourth week I'll cover miscellaneous topics like residence, land, immigration, naturalization, etc.

To begin, my paternal grandfather, Joseph Andrew HUIGENS, was born on 9-Mar-1891 near Creighton, Knox Co., NE.  The sources for the date are his WWI draft registration card, his marriage license, his obituary, his NE death record and his grave marker.  The years are confirmed by US Census records for 1900 through 1930.  He was born before births were registered in Nebraska.  It's possible that he has a delayed birth record filed.  The best hope for a primary, direct and original source is baptism records at St. Ludger's Catholic Church in Creighton.

The exact location of his birth is most likely the family farm, about 10 miles west of Creighton on the family farm in Logan Township, in the south half of section 3.  All the known records list his birthplace as Creighton, which is the closest town.

His parents were John HUIGENS and Mary FITZLER, who moved to Knox County in the spring of 1884.  Joseph was their fourth child and third son.  He was named after his uncle Joseph WEND, his father's half-brother.

My grandfather is standing on the far right in the picture below.  This is the earliest picture I have of him.

Next week, Joseph's marriage to Julia KAIN.

Surname Saturday - 31: Howard

Today is the last of the lines of my great-great-grandmothers.

1. Kevin Joseph HUIGENS

2. Joseph Anthony HUIGENS
3. Shirley Ann OGDEN

6. Emery Julius OGDEN (b. 9 Sept 1896 in Elk Point, Union Co., SD, USA, m. 19 Mar 1929 in Gordon, Sheridan Co., NE, USA, d. 8 Apr 1984 in Martin, Bennett Co., SD, USA)
7. Esther Louise JOHNSON (b. 23 Feb 1902 in Milan, Rock Island Co., IL, USA, d. 24 Mar 1984 in Rapid City, Pennington Co., SD, USA)

14. Gustav Adolph JOHNSON (b. 18 Aug 1867 in Locknevi, Kalmar, Småland, Sweden, m. 4 Sep 1899 in Rock Island Co., IL, USA, d. 25 Dec 1941 in Henning, Otter Tail Co., MN, USA)15. Rosabell "Rose" STRAYER (b. 23 Aug 1872 in Milan, Rock Island Co., IL, USA, d. 7 May 1955 in Henning, Otter Tail Co., MN, USA)

30. Abraham STRAYER (b. 2 Sept 1822 in Dover, York Co., IL, USA, m. 10 Jul 1847 in Clark Co., OH, USA, d. 13 Feb 1893 in Milan, Rock Island Co., IL, USA)
31. Harriet Alice HOWARD (b. 30 Apr 1829 in Dayton, Montgomery Co., OH, USA, d. 2 Apr 1914 in Davenport, Scott Co., IA, USA)

62. Samuel Howard (b. btwn 1790 and 1800 in England, m. ? in ?, d ? in ?)
63. Sarah Bolton (b. btwn 1790 and 1800 in England, d ? in ?)

Not too much info on this line.  Samuel is in Dayton, OH in the 1830 census.  No idea of his parents or any birth/marriage/death details.

SNGF: What are they searching for?

This week's challenge:
1)  Go to your Blog Statistics website (e.g., StatCounter, Google Analytics, etc.) and find the page for "Keyword Searches" done on your blog.

2)  Tell us some of the funniest or most interesting keyword searches and your reaction to them. 

The top searches that led people to my blog:

5 times
genealogy blog Neunkirchen

4 times
"iowa 1855 census"
"Thomas FOX" "Mary FOX" "Patrick FOX" "john kain"
streher

3 times
Peter Stroeher of Starkenburg

Nothing too exciting there. 

'Junkerhorfva' is a search term I didn't recognize at first.  It's the place in Sweden where my great-great-great-grandfather Jonas NILSSON was born. 

One search was from someone looking for Russell DeWitt of Rushville, a man for whom my mother worked after she graduated high school.

'afentahl' and 'ahfentahl' both brought people to my site. I sure hope they weren't disappointed.  'FAMILY HISTORY' brought someone.  I'm honored.

04 January 2011

Tombstone Tuesday: Julia Huigens

Part of the reason why I haven't put up a Tombstone Tuesday post in almost a year is that I have not been able to find a photo of my Grandma Julia's grave. I posted photos of the grave markers for my three other grandparents and did not want to skip my paternal grandmother. I know I have taken pictures of her grave on several occasions, but I have not put a lot of effort into tracking one down and scanning it.



Instead I'll go with this photo that my daughter found of herself. This is Austen Julia HUIGENS in 1999 next to Julia HUIGENS's grave marker. We have several Julia's in our family tree, but Austen's middle name was in honor of her great-grandmother.

Mystery Monday: My grandfather's move across Nebraska

Sometime between the birth of my Aunt Berneice [sic] in 1921 and my father in 1927, my paternal grandfather, Joseph Huigens, headed west from Knox Co. in northeast Nebraska to Sheridan Co. in the northwest part of the state.


Map Courtesy of Digital-Topo-Maps.com

According to my grandfather's obituary, the move occured sometime prior to Jan. 1926.

In 1920 he was farming 480 acres that he rented from his father in sections 3 and 11 of Logan Township, about 10 miles west of Creighton, NE. He was also renting 160 acres he owned in section 9 to a John Parkhurst. (Source: 1920 Atlas of Knox County, Nebraska)

According to my mom, he rented the land he farmed in Sheridan Co. from Logan C. Musser of Rushville, NE.

The mystery is when did he move and, more importantly, why. Did he sell the land he owned in Knox Co.? If so, to whom? Why did he end the lease arrangement with his father and move across the state to rent land? Was it economics or family dynamics?

I wish I had raised some of these questions before my dad's stroke and before all his siblings were gone. Maybe my mom can provide some answers. I can also see what my dad's nieces and nephews and his cousins who are still around Creighton know. There's also land records and directories in Knox Co. and Sheridan Co. to go through. Plenty of places to go looking for more nuggets of family history.

02 January 2011

SNGF: Very Best 2010 Research

This is easy since I didn't do much research this year. The best was the overnight trip my wife and I took downstate to Bloomington/Normal to access the Marshall County records in the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) at Illinois State University. I didn't find as much as I had hoped for. I did however make a major find--the marriage license for my great-great-grandparents Edward HUIGENS and Catherine TOEMMES.  I did a little happy dance when I found this since I had no info on when or where these two had been married.



On this record, my Dutch great-great-grandfather is listed as "Edward Huigens," which is but one of the many forms of his name in the records.  My great-great-grandmother's surname has lost one of its m's in both places on the record. 

The license was issued on 3-May-1854.  The marriage appears to have taken place on "4-Juny-1854."  JUNY?!?!?!  At least that's how I read it.  And the officiating priest wrote it that way three times.  It's a head scratcher.  I'm assuming that should be 4-June-1854.  It's closer than July to when the license was issued and I doubt they would have been married on the 4th of July.  June 4th was a Sunday in 1854 and July 4th was a Tuesday.  A Sunday wedding makes more sense than a Tuesday one in a farming community.  A check in the church records may provide more info.

The priest's name will take some research to decipher.  Maybe Wm. Pettnaimer?  He signs himself a Catholic priest from LaSalle, Ills.  It shouldn't be too hard to find a list of the Catholic priests in LaSalle in 1854.  The location of the ceremony will also take some research.  I need to determine which Catholic churches in Marshall Co. were built when.  It appears they were married by a traveling priest from LaSalle so it may not have been in a church or if it was, it was a parish that did not yet have a priest permanently assigned.

The rest of the trip was just as lovely as my wife and I had a quiet, romantic  dinner in downtown Bloomington and a lovely drive down and back.  Overall a very satisfying weekend.

01 January 2011

Surname Saturday - 29: Jönsdotter, et al,

2011, the year in which I try to post more.  We'll see how long that lasts.

Another Swedish surname mess.

1. Kevin Joseph HUIGENS

2. Joseph Anthony HUIGENS
3. Shirley Ann OGDEN

6. Emery Julius OGDEN (b. 9 Sept 1896 in Elk Point, Union Co., SD, USA, m. 19 Mar 1929 in Gordon, Sheridan Co., NE, USA, d. 8 Apr 1984 in Martin, Bennett Co., SD, USA)
7. Esther Louise JOHNSON (b. 23 Feb 1902 in Milan, Rock Island Co., IL, USA, d. 24 Mar 1984 in Rapid City, Pennington Co., SD, USA)

14. Gustav Adolph JOHNSON (b. 18 Aug 1867 in Locknevi, Kalmar, Småland, Sweden, m. 4 Sep 1899 in Rock Island Co., IL, USA, d. 25 Dec 1941 in Henning, Otter Tail Co., MN, USA)
15. Rosabell "Rose" STRAYER (b. 23 Aug 1872 in Milan, Rock Island Co., IL, USA, d. 7 May 1955 in Henning, Otter Tail Co., MN, USA)

28. Carl Jacob JOHNSON (b. 1 Jul 1832 in Vrångfall, Locknevi, Kalmar, Småland, Sweden, m. 4 Sep 18 in Locknevi, Kalmar, Småland, Sweden, d. 17 Oct 1915 in Orion, Henry Co., IL, USA)
29. Christina Lotta JÖNSDOTTER (b. 4 Jul 1839 in Slottsbäcken, Locknevi, Kalmar, Småland, Sweden, d. 10 Oct 1919 in Gordon, Sheridan Co., NE, USA)


She went by "Stina" and her full middle name may be "Carlotta."

And on to the patronymics.

58. Jonas NILSSON (b. 12 May 1796 in Junkerhorfva, Hjorted, Kalmar, Småland, Sweden, m. 7 Feb 1819 in Hjorted, Kalmar, Småland, Sweden, d. 14 Oct 1862 in Locknevi, Vimmerby, Kalmar, Småland, Sweden)
59. Lisa PERSDOTTER (b. 22 Oct 1796 in Strömsnäs Av Bergebo, Hjorted, Kalmar, Småland, Sweden, d. 22 Apr 1848 in Sweden)

116. Nils SVENSSON (d. 1805
117. Anna JONSDOTTER(b. abt 1769)

That is as far back as I have info on this line.  As before with my Swedish heritage, a lot of the info comes from my third-cousin Brenda in Seattle.