Apr. 2011, week 4: Misc. info re Esther (JOHNSON) OGDEN

This is the last post on my maternal grandmother, covering all of the miscellaneous info I have on her.

According to my mother, her mother’s family moved from Gordon, Sheridan Co., NE to Henning, Otter Tail Co., MN the summer before my grandmother’s senior year in high school. That would be the summer of 1920, since the Johnsons are in Gordon for the 1920 census and my grandmother was born in 1902. Because the high school in Minnesota would not accept all of her Nebraska high school credits, she would have had to go two years there in order to graduate. So she dropped out. It’s a shame she claim so close to graduating.

Also according to my mother, her parents met when my grandmother was back in Nebraska visiting some of her cousins. My grandfather was dating one of these cousins and dropped her because he was smitten by my grandmother. He must have made a good choice because they were married for 55 years.

The move from Gordon to Henning was at least the third move her family made while she was growing up. They went from Milan, Rock Island Co., IL to Winside, Wayne Co., NE probably in 1904 when she was two. They are in Winside in the 1910 US Census and her obituary says they moved when she was 2. Sometime between 1910 and 1920 they moved to Gordon. Her obituary says 1920, but that is the year they went to Minnesota. If she attended high school in Gordon, they probably arrived there before 1918. The latest date is probably Oct 1919, when her grandmother, Christina JOHNSON, died in Gordon, assuming that she was living with her son’s family when she died. I need to figure out which of her other children were living near Gordon when she died.

After she married my grandfather, my grandmother did a lot of moving around with him between southwestern SD and Sheridan Co., NE. The Ogden’s don’t seem to like staying in one place for very long.

Finally here are some pictures of my grandmother with her sisters, Ruth and Elsie.

ca. 1920

ca. Oct 1971

ca. Aug 1972

Next month I start on the lives of my eight great-grandparents.

Ohio Marriage of Samuel Howard and Sarah Bolton

My mother informed me that one of her cousin's daughter had some info on our English Howard line. The information I received from my second cousin was that she had a marriage record for Samuel Howard and Sarah Balton from Hamilton Co., Ohio from 30 Nov 1824. That sent me looking on-line to see what I could find. The first thing I found was an entry on the marriage in a DAR book from 1941, "Marriage records, Hamilton County, Ohio." (1)  That confirmed the place and date.

Next I went to Family Search and found the following image. (2)

This looks like the record from which the DAR info was abstracted. The original source for this image is explained here.  Looks like I need to see if they have the original license at the courthouse.  Even better, maybe my second cousin has a copy of the original and not what I found on-line.  I'm hopeful that the original has birthplaces, ages, parents' names.  That'd make things so much easier.

1) Ancestry.com. Marriage records, Hamilton County, Ohio [database on-line]. Provo, UT: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005. Original data: Marriage records, Hamilton County, Ohio. Cincinnati, Ohio: Cincinnati Chapter, D.A.R., 1941.  Accessed 26 Apr 2011. Entry for Sarah Balton and Samuel Howard, p. 28.


2) "Ohio, County Marriages, 1790-1950." database and images, FamilySearch: accessed 26 April 2011. entry for Samuel Howard and Sarah Balton, married 30 Nov 1824; citing Marriage Records, FHL film 344451; Hamilton County Courthouse, Cincinnatti, Ohio.

Jacob Eidelbusch in the 1900 US Census

Yesterday, I posted about learning that my 3rd-great-grandfather, John Jacob Adelbush, had died in 1901 in the Sheboygan Co. Insane Asylum. I also wrote that should make it easy to find his 1900 US Census record.  Mission Accomplished.

I began by searching for all the Johns and Jacobs in Sheboygan Co. That didn't find him. Then I tried looking for "Inmate" and "Patient" in Sheboygan Co. He wasn't there either. So I looked for all Sheboygan Co. males born in Germany in 1817.  There he was, misindexed as "Josep Eidelbarch" in the list of Insane Asylum inmates without any value in the "Relationship" column where I had expected "Inmate" or "Patient." One more thing crossed off the To-Do List.

Two new records

This week I received two records I had ordered online from the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. They were a Washington Co. marriage record for John Frederick Herren and Julia Ann Adelbush and a Sheboygan Co. death record for Julia Ann's father, John Jacob Adelbusch.

These records were indexed under the names T.T. Herren and Juliane Edenbusch for the marriage record and Jacob Etelbuseh for the death record. As you can imagine, it took a little doing to find them using the society's online genealogy index. I basically ended up scrolling through all the records of a given type for a county for a given year. Luckily I had enough information about the events that I could find these sources.

These records were created at the state level from records forwarded by the counties starting in 1852. I'd consider these to be derivative sources. These records have then been indexed by the society. Finding them was made difficult because of errors made during the abstraction at the county level or transcribing them at the state level (e.g., "Edenbusch") and errors introduced during the indexing ("Eitelbuseh").

The main thing I was hoping to learn from the marriage record was the maiden name of Julia Ann's mother. No such luck. As you can see, they listed her with her married name: Gertrude Edelbusch. Brickwall: 1, Kevin: 0. The game goes on.

The puzzle raised by this source is the birthplace for John Frederick. This source has it as "Hanover." In all the US Census records 1850 to 1900, his birthplace is "Wisconsin." There is a Hanover in Rock Co., WI so maybe that's what is meant and not Hannover, Germany, where his father was born. It's a headscratcher.

The big stunner for John Jacob Adelbush is his place of death: the Sheboygan Co. Insane Asylum. That's the second of my ancestors to have died in an insane asylum. The cause of death is listed as Senile Debility. I'm assuming he was there because he was suffering from dementia or perhaps Alzheimer's and not because of some other mental illness.  He died at the age of 84 in 1901 and the record says he was there for 2 to 3 years. That explains why I haven't been able to find him in the 1900 US Census.  Now I know where to look.

Here's how I'd cite these two sources. I'd appreciate any feedback on how to improve these citations. I generated these using The Master Genealogist's templates.

State-level record of Washington Co., WI marriage record for TT Herren and Jualiane Edenbusch, 1:319, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 816 State St., Madison, WI 53708.

Jacob Eitelbusch entry, State-level records of Sheboygan Co., WI death records, 4:6, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 816 State St., Madison, WI 53708. Hereinafter cited as JJA Death Record.

Apr. 2011, week 3: Esther (JOHNSON) OGDEN's Death

Only a day late. That’s not too bad, is it? I spent a large part of yesterday finishing up some of the organizing tasks from Dear Myrtle’s Jan. Organizing Checklist for weeks 2 and 3. So I didn’t have time to work on my blog. I wonder if I’ll finish Week 4 of January’s checklist before May. Probably not. Sigh.

My Grandma Ogden died on 24 Mar 1984 in the Black Hills Rehabilitation Hospital, Rapid City, Pennington Co., SD. She was 82 years old.  She and my grandfather spent the last 10 years of their lives in various nursing homes in Rapid City, where my mother, their oldest daughter, lived. My grandfather died a month after his wife.  They are buried together in Fairview Cemetery in Rushville, Sheridan Co., NE.

My sources for this information, aside from personal knowledge, are this obituary, her grave marker, the SSDI and her funeral card. On my To Do list are to order her SD death certificate and to look into the records at Morse Memorial Methodist Church in Rushville, NE where her funeral was held.

The Civil War

150 years ago today the Civil War started. I may seem a little late for the Civil War Genealogy Challenge, but actually I was way ahead of schedule. I've already posted about my only Civil War veteran ancestor in "Keokuk Civil War Hospital Cornerstone" many, many months ago. 

Abraham Strayer may not have distinguished himself in battle (he may never have actually seen any fighting), but he did volunteer and he did pay with his health in service to his country. 

Apr. 2011, week 2: Esther (JOHNSON) OGDEN's Children

A day late because I was too busy yesterday at my grand-nephew's first birthday party. Living family members come before ancestry.

Since most of my mother's brothers and sisters are still alive, I can't give too many details on my maternal grandmother's children.

1. Ardis Rosemary OGDEN, b. 20 Sep 1930 in Rushville, Sheridan Co., NE, d. 22 Sep 1930 in Rushville, Sheridan Co., NE (This was my grandparent's first child. She would have been my mother's older sister, if she had lived. She is buried in Fairview Cemetery, Rushville NE near her parents.
2. Shirley Ann OGDEN, my mother. She was born in Minnesota because, after losing her firstborn, my grandmother Esther went to be with her parents when it was time for my mom to be born.
3. Son.
4. Daughter.

5. William Johnson OGDEN, b. 28 Sept 1938 in Gordon, Sheridan Co., NE, d. 2 Oct 1988 in Los Angeles, CA. This is a picture of his memorial stone in Fairview Cemetery, near his parents.  He is buried in the National Memorial Cemetery in Phoenix, Maricopa Co., AZ.
6. Daughter.
7. Daughter.
8. Daughter.

Here is my mother and her brothers and sisters and a later one with the whole family.

Apr. 2011, Week 1: Birth of Esther Louise JOHNSON

Back on schedule in April. We'll see how long this lasts.

My maternal grandmother, Esther Louise JOHNSON, was born on 23 Feb 1902 in Milan, Rock Island Co., SD, USA. Her parents were Gustaf Adolph JOHNSON and Rosabel STRAYER.

My sources for her birth date are her grave marker, her obituary, a funeral card, and the SSDI. For the location, I have her obituary and my mother's 1945 SD Census card. I still need to get her Rock Island Co. birth record, any church baptism records, her Pennington Co., SD death record, her SS-5 application and newspaper birth announcements. To find the exact location where her parents were living when she was born, I need to check Rock Island Co. land records and county or Milan city directories for 1902. According to the 1900 US Census, Gust and Rose were renting a house in Milan. That may be the same place they were living when their first child was born two years later.

Surname Saturday: 39 Peters

Stop me if you've heard this before: So I went into ancestry.com and there was this little leaf. Yup, I went last night to gather info for a post on another German line of ancestors and I found several family trees with birth, death and parent information for my ancestor Jakob Wilhelm PETERS. I incorporated the info for now. It will all have to be verified and properly sourced someday, but for now I'll post it with the caveat that it is unverified data.

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)

38. Johannes SCHMITT (b. 28 Feb 1790 in Eischeid, Palatinate, HRE, m. 24 Feb 1821 in Neunkirchen, Siegkreis, Prussia, d. ? in ?)
39. Anna Helene PETERS (b. 20 Jan 1799 in Niederwennersheid, Palatinate, HRE, d. ? in ?)

78. Jakob Wilhelm PETERS (b. 12 Aug 1746 in Hoff, Siegkreis, Rheinland, Prussia, m. 1780 in ???, d. 15 Mar 1817, Niederwennerscheid, Palatinate, HRE)
79. Anna Maria Kuepper (b. 01 Nov 1762 in Germany, d. 13 Dec 1824 in Niederwennerscheid, Palatinate, HRE)

156. Johann Wilhelm PETERS (b. ??? in Hoff, Siegkreis, Rheinland, Prussia, m. 14 Feb 1735 in Neunkirchen, Siegkreis, Prussia, d. ??? in ???)
157. Eva Maria ORTH (b. 15 MAR 1714 in Niederwennersheid, Palatinate, HRE, d. 6 May 1754 in Hoff, Siegkreis, Rheinland, Prussia) 

I will need to go back through my notes on this area of Germany and the history of its geopolitics; when did it go from the Holy Roman Empire to Prussia, etc. I like listing the historical place details rather than the current ones. In my mind, my ancestors were not born in Germany or North Rhein-Westphalia. Those geopolitical entities did not exist during their lives. Anyway, I put the locations in italics to indicate that they may not be accurate.  One more thing for my genealogy to do list: create a timeline of the geopolitics of the regions where my German/Prussian ancestors lived.