SNGF : 3rd Most Recent Unknown Ancestor

Randy Seaver's challenge for this week:

1) Who is your TMRUA - your Third Most Recent Unknown Ancestor? This is the person with the third lowest number in your Pedigree Chart or Ahnentafel List that you have not identified a last name for, or a first name if you know a surname but not a first name. 

2) Have you looked at your research files for this unknown person recently? Why don't you scan it again just to see if there's something you have missed? 

3) What online or offline resources might you search that might help identify your TMRUA?

4) Tell us about him or her, and your answers to 2) and 3) above, in a blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a comment on Facebook or Google Plus. 

So, first post since June. Long time no blog.

My third most recent unknown ancestor would be #40, the father of my great-great-grandfather John Kain. As far as I know, John was born in Armagh, Northern Ireland. I still need to verify that by tracking down his St. Louis marriage record and other information that might give me insight into his parents and where he came from. I also have a David Kain in a census record showing him on the Clinton Co., IA farm of John Kain's sister-in-law (widow of John's wife's possible brother). David Kain might be a brother of John and the only record I have of him is the census record. It's a clue that might help trace back to John's parents.

Dictionary Word of the Day

Here's the Dictionary.com Word of the Day:

agnate: a relative whose connection is traceable exclusively through males.

That's a new one to me and very much a genealogical word. Not sure how useful it is. How often do I need to refer to my dad's brothers or their sons? Or my dad's uncles on his father's side and their sons? We all share an X chromosome so it may be useful for genetic genealogy.

Census Sunday: Joseph Huigens family in the 1940 US Census

Here is my transcription of the census entry for my father's family from the 1940 US Census. This was his second appearance in the US Census.

State: NE
County: Sheridan
Township, or other division of county: Rushville pct
S. D. No. 5
E.D. No. 81-26

Location
1. Street, avenue, road, etc.
2. House number (in cities and towns)

Household Data
3. Number of Household: 88
4. Home owned or rented: R
5. Value of home (if owned) or monthly rental (if rented): 8
6. Does this household live on a farm? Yes

7. Name of person:	Higgins, Joseph A*	Higgins, Julia M	Higgins, Arnold F	Higgins, Lawrence J	Higgins, Rita	Higgins, Bernice M	Higgins, Joseph A
8. Relationship of this person to head of household:	Head	Wife	Son	Son	Daughter	Daughter	Son
9. Sex:	M	F	M	M	F	F	M
10. Color or Race:	W	W	W	W	W	W	W
11. Age at last birthday:	49	45	23	22	21	18	13
12. Marital Status:	M	M	S	S	S	S	S
13. Attended school or college any time since March 1, 1940:	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
14. Highest grade of school  completed:	H2	8	H4	7	H4	H3	6
15. Place of birth:	Nebraska	Nebraska	Nebraska	Nebraska	Nebraska	Nebraska	Nebraska
16. Citizenship of foreign born:
17. Residence on 1 April, 1935 - City or town:	Same house	Same house	Same house	Same house	Same house	Same house	Same house
18. Residence on 1 April, 1935 - County:
19. Residence on 1 April, 1935 - State or foreign country:
20. On a farm?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
21. Was this person AT WORK for pay or profit in private or nonemergency Gov't. work during week of March 24-30? (Yes or No):	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
22. If not, was he at work on, or assigned to, public EMERGENCY WORK (WPA, NYA, CCC, etc.) during -week of March 24-30? (Yes or No):	-	No	Yes	-	-	No
23. If neither at work nor assigned to public emergency work. ("No" in Cols. 21 and 22), Was this person SEEKING WORK?(Yes or No):	-	No	-	-	-	No
24. If not seeking work, did he HAVE A JOB, business, etc.? (Yes or No):	-	No	-	-	-	No
25. Indicate whether engaged in home house-work (H), in school (S), unable to work (U), or other (Ot):	-	H	-	-	-	S
26. Number of hours worked during week of March 24-30, 1940:	60			60	50
27. Duration of unemployment up to March 30, 1940 - in weeks:			52
28. Occupation: Trade, profession, or particular kind of work, as frame spinner, salesman, rivet heater ,music teacher:	farmer		CCC painter	carpenter helper	waitress
29. Industry: Industry or business, as cotton mill, retail grocery, farm, shipyard, public school:	on farm		building constr	building consruction	restaurant
30. Class of worker:	OA	NP	GW	PW	PW	NP
31. Number of weeks worked in 1939 (Equivalent full-time weeks):	52	52	46	30	28	12
32, Income in 1939 (12 months ended December 31, 1939): Amount of money wages or salary received (including commissions):	0	0	230	225	80
33. Did this person receive income of $50 or more from sources other than money wages or salary (Yes or No):	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No
34. Number of farm schedule:	63

Source citation: 

1940 U.S. census, Sheridan County, Nebraska,  Rushville pct , population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 81-26, Sheet No. 5B, household 88, line 47, Joseph Higgins; digital image, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census (Beta) [database on-line, accessed 5-Aug-2012]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940. T627, 4,643 rolls.

Surname Saturday - 97: Clark

This week I'm skipping from 79: Kuepper to 97: Clark. Surnames 81 through 95 would be my eight Irish great-great-great-great-grandmothers. I'm still collecting info on my four Irish great-great-grandparents in America before attempting to cross the pond with those lines.

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)

12. William Fredrick OGDEN (b. 10 Oct 1871 in Simcoe, Norfolk Co., Ontario, Canada, m. 25 Jan. 1895 in Elk Point, Union Co., SD, USA, d. 19 May 1951 in Platteville, Grant Co., WI, USA)
13. Mary Elizabeth HERREN (b. 22 Dec 1873 in Batavia, Scott Twp., Sheboygan Co., WI, USA, d. 14 Nov 1938 in Mission, Todd Co., SD, USA)

24. James Robert OGDEN (b. 9 Feb 1836 in New Brunswick, Canada, m. 12 Nov 1861 in Grey Co., Ontario, Canada, d. 6 Aug 1910 in Rapid City, Pennington Co., SD, USA)
25. Hannah GIBBON (b. 10 Feb 1837 in Chinguacousy, Peel Co., Ontario, Canada, d. 18 Apr 1927 in Denby, Shannon Co., SD, USA)

48. Robert OGDEN (b. abt 1807 in New Brunswick, Canada, m. 13 Jan 1825 in Kings Co., New Brunswick, Canada, d. 26 Jan 1892 in Bruce Co., Ontario, Canada)
49. Frances Amelia MORRELL (b. abt 1809 in Canada, d. 1881)

96. Jonathon OGDEN (b. 1748 in NY, m1. before 1794 to Millie Whitlock in ?, m2. 20 Oct 1801 to Mary Clark in Gagetown, Queens Co., New Brunswick, Canada, d. 14 Nov 1845 in Greenwich, Kings Co., New Brunswick, Canada)
97. Mary CLARK (b. 1765 in ?, d. Aug 1846 in Greenwich, Kings Co., New Brunswick, Canada)

It was the second marriage for both Jonathan and Mary. Her first husband was James Edward Toole with whom she had four children. 

Camp Security

Dick Eastman had a post today about the preservation of Camp Security, a Revolutionary War POW camp in York County, PA, just east of the town of York. A recent aerial image of the camp is here. I had read that my 4xgreat-grandfather, Johann Peter Strayer of Dover, York Co., PA had been a POW guard during the Revolutionary War. This article prompted me to investigate if this was the prison camp at which he had served.

A Google search for "peter strayer guard" turned up a Google Newspaper archive article from the Gettysburg Times of 24 Sept 1987. It states "Peter Strayer was in the American Rev. on Capt. Samuel Fuller's payroll, and was a guard at Camp Security, in 1781. Pa. Archives Vol 2 page 810 Sixth Series."

I am so glad that the author of the article, Harold Ditzler, provided a source citation for his assertion. Another Google search led me to a Wikipedia article on the Pennsylvania Archives with a link to the Google Books location for every volume. A few clicks and I was on page 810 of Volume 2 of the Sixth Series, where I found the second page of a muster roll for Sept 1781 listing Peter Strayer, who began serving on 15 Aug 1781.  He is listed as being "on guard" in the "Causualities" [sic] column. The heading of the muster roll on page 809 states that they were guarding "the Convention Prisinon [sic] at Camp Security."

I wanted to cite this book and realized I didn't know how to cite an on-line book. I know how to cite a book and I know how to cite an web site, but this was my first try at citing a book I accessed on-line. Since I had recently downloaded the 2nd edition of "Evidence Explained" from evidenceexplained.com, I popped it open to see what the expert had to say.

Basically what Elizabeth Shown Mills says for Reprints: Image Editions is to cite first the book (without publisher or place of publication), then the location of the image. She gives examples for a book on CD/DVD or on microfilm, but not for a web site. So here is my attempt at a citation regarding my ancestor's service.

Montgomery, Thomas Lynch. 1906. [Muster rolls, etc., 1743-1787], 809-810. Google Books (//http://books.google.com/books?id=ED4OAAAAIAAJ : accessed 15 May 2012.)

 I took the book citation straight from WorldCat, so that has to be right, even if I think it needs to provide information about the series of which it is a volume. I tried to follow the format for citing a website given in EE as best I could. At the very least, it's provides a trail for someone else to verify and evaluate my assertion that Peter Strayer was a guard at Camp Security during the Revolutionary War.

So that's one maternal line fighting for independence and one (Ogden) fighting for the Crown and heading for Canada when they lost.

Surname Saturday - 79: Kuepper

Another German line presented from my Ancestry.com tree with data that I have not verified. I haven't even done the research on what political sub-divisions Niederwennersheid and Seelscheid were in the 18th century.

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)

158. Wilhelm KUEPPER (d. 6 Sep 1779 in Seelscheid, Germany)

159. Anna Margaretha KURTENBACH (b. 01 Sep 1737 in Niederwennerscheid, Germany, d. 24 Aug 1779 in Germany)

Surname Saturday - 77: Schorath

More of my German ancestors from the area southeast of Köln.

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 ?)

76. Johann Theodor SCHMITT (b. 7 Oct 1760 in Wende, Germany, m. 21 Feb 1789 in Neunkirchen, Siegkreis, Prussia, d. 30 Apr 1833 in Eischeid, Siegkreis, Prussia)
77. Maria Helene SCHORATH (b. 25 Mar 1763 in Eischeid, Palatinate, HRE, d. 21 May 1810 in Eischeid, Siegkreis, Prussia)

144. Johann Adolph SCHORATH

145. Anna Barbara FUCHS

Ice Cream

In my family, ice cream is king. My dad had to have a dish of ice cream before bed each night. He inherited this from his mother. A weakness for ice cream is a sure sign that you are descended from them.

I was looking for some information on my grandmother's uncles who all settled for a time in and around LeMars, Plymouth County, IA. Her uncle Richard "RH" Kain served three terms as mayor of LeMars.

Imagine my surprise when I came across the following here:

Le Mars is recognized as "The Ice Cream Capital of the World" because more ice cream is made here by a single company (Wells' Dairy, makers of Blue Bunny) than in any other city in the world -- more than 100 million gallons. Enjoy the annual Ice Cream Days festival each June, and the popular Plymouth County Fair, Iowa's second largest.

Well that sure explains  a lot! My great-great-uncle was mayor of "The Ice Cream Capital of the World." I think I'll go have a dish of vanilla to celebrate.

Tombstone Tuesday: Helena Fitzler

This is the grave marker for my great-great-grandmother, Anna Helena (Schmitt) Fitzler.

I have not yet been able to locate her husband's grave. That would be my great-great-grandfather John Wymer Fitzler. I'm pretty sure he died in Marshall Co., IL. Thanks to a recently found obituary for Helena that I wrote about here, I've managed to narrow down the date of his death to around 1892. I'll find him eventually.

Getting organized

I have been working on getting my paper files organized. I started by following "Dear Myrtle's" system of Surname Notebooks. It looks like she moved the web pages describing her method, but Randy Seaver has a good overview here. I especially liked the idea of using the Surname Notebooks as coffee table books that people could browse through.

Then I read all about Barry J. Ewell's color-coded folder system. I liked that way of organizing paper records, too. Oh, who am I kidding, I'm a sucker for any thing organizational. I could spend a ton of money at the Container Store.

While Barry's method seemed straight-forward and well thought out, I didn't want to abandon my Surname Notebooks. So I started creating a hybrid system.

I have a notebook for each surname. They are labeled with the surname and numbered by the ahnentafel number of the female ancestor who introduced that name into my tree. So I have 1-Huigens (which is actually two notebooks, one for just for me, my wife and my offspring), 3-Ogden, 5-Kain, 7-Johnson, etc.

I have divided each notebook by family as Barry suggests with his folders. I put a family group sheet for each family in a clear plastic protective sheet. Then I used 2" clear, self-adhesive index tabs to turn each family group sheet into a divider sheet. For the main family lines, I put the tabs near the top of the page and labeled each with the husband and wife for that family. I put the oldest families first, so that the notebooks are chronological from front to back.

For all the other family sheets, I created an insert with just the relative's name, put the tab in the middle along the edge and arranged the children in birth order behind their parents' sheet. Information about the direct ancestors, starting with a marriage record, goes in protective sheets in chronological order after the main family tab; information about the children and their families goes in protective sheets behind each child's tab. For my direct ancestors, I put the tab on a sheet holding their birth certificate, if I had it. Otherwise, I just used a duplicate family group sheet until I can find a document relating to their birth or baptism. I also used a yellow highlighter on the tab insert with their name on it to make it easier to identify my ancestors.

So this is where I'll put all my hard copy records and documents. I also bought some protective sheets for holding 4x6 photos that will make the notebooks more interesting for people to peruse. It turns out that page after page of records is none too exciting to those not bitten by the genealogy bug.

So far the system is working out well. I've set up the two Huigens notebooks. A grand total of four families in the second of them: my parents, my grandparents, my great-grandparents and my great-great-grandparents. That's it until I can take my Dutch line back across the Atlantic. I've also just finished my Ogden notebook. My mom's paternal line goes back to John Ogden and Judith Budd in colonial New York. I think I had to make tabs for eight or nine different families and some of them had up to fourteen children. Needless to say, it took a while to get that book set up. Next up will be the Kains, which is only two families. The Strayer notebook will be another one with a lot of families going back to my German ancestors in colonial Pennsylvania.

The only issue that I'm struggling with is what to do with my grandmothers who had prior or subsequent marriages. One of my options is to put them in the surname book of their husband who is my ancestor, but why would Catherine Toemmes marriage to Nicholas Wend after my g-g-grandfather died belong in the Huigens notebook? Who would think to look for it there? I could put it back in the Toemmes notebook, but that seems unsatisfactory, too. I may just create a separate notebook and file those families in alphabetical order by the husband's surname or my grandmother's maiden name. That just leaves me with finding a way to let someone looking at a surname notebook know that a prior or subsequent family for the mother exists with information on half-brothers and sisters filed somewhere else. I'd appreciate any suggestions on dealing with this.

Surname Saturday: 75 - Jacobs

Another German surname. There's a few more of them on the way.

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

That's it. That's all I have on my Jacobs line. Just a name for a great-great-great-great-grandmother from some time around the beginning of the 19th century.

Abundant Genealogy: Weeks 15 and 16

I've fallen behind on this, so it's time to catch up

Week 15: Volunteers: Tell us about a volunteer you appreciate. What does this person do for the genealogical community? How has he or she touched your heart?
This is your chance to show some love for those who selflessly give their time to family history.

This was a tough one. My choice is only marginally genealogy related but I have to say I am truly grateful to Tom Bogner and his work on preserving the cemetery near Henry, IL that sits in the middle of a cornfield. My great-great-grandfather Evert Huigens/Eberhard Heigens and his mother-in-law, my great-great-great-grandmother Maria (Schmitt) Toemmes are buried there. Without Tom's efforts to protect the cemetery from the encroachment of the farmer who owns the land surrounding it, I don't think the remains of two of my ancestors would have a chance of remaining undisturbed.

Week 16: Tech Toys: Genealogists love their technology toys! Which tech gadget do you appreciate the most? How has this tool enhanced your family history experience? Would you recommend it to others?

I don't have nearly enough tech toys. My most useful one is a digital camera. It's come in handy at cemeteries and family gatherings. I hope to be able to use it when I make my first trip to a court house and come across documents that cannot be photocopied. Maybe I'll give it a trial run at a library, where I have the backup option of photocopying.

Obit for Mrs. Helena Fitzler

Last night I was looking for Nebraska newspaper archives to see where I might be able to get access to news papers for Knox County or the town of Creighton. I came across the Nebraska's Newspapers site. This is a joint venture of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the Nebraska State Historical Society. I clicked on the Browse link and a map of Nebraska appeared with seven cities indicated. One of them was Norfolk, which is near Creighton, so I clicked on it. They had digitized images of issues from 1899 to 1912. A quick check in ancestry.com showed me that my great-great-grandmother Anna Helena (Schmitt) Fitzler died on 20 May 1904. So, I went looking for the issue of the Norfolk Weekly News-Journal for that week. Lo and behold, in the upper left hand corner of page 2 for the issue of 27 May 1904 was the headline "North Nebraska Deaths" and there it was.

NORTH NEBRASKA DEATHS

---

"GRANDMA" FITZLER OF CREIGHT-
TON PASSES AWAY

---

.
.
.
    Creighton, Neb. May 21.-- Special
to The News:  Mrs. Helena Fitzler of
Creighton died here yesterday after-
noon at 3 o'clock of old age.  She was
seventy-two years old and was born 
in Germany.  She came to this coun-
try with her parents, locating in Hen-
ry, Ill.  After the death of her hus-
band, Mrs. Fitzler moved to Creighton
and has made this her home for the 
past twelve years.  She owned prop-
erty in Illinois and owned her home 
in Creighton.
    She leaves six daughters and one 
son, John Fitzler, who is unmarried, 
and who is employed in the store of
Loeble & Son, of Creighton.  Maggie
Rublow, Mary Higgons, Lizzie Bloom,
of Knox county;  Mr. and Mrs. Peter
John of Sheldon, Ia., Helen Boisbors
of Mendota, Ill, Kate Schubert of 
Manson, Ia., were all here at the bed-
side of Mrs. Fitzler when the end 
came.
    The funeral will be held Sunday af-
ternoon at 3 o'clock from the Catholic
church, Rev. Father Windols in
charge.
    Helena Fitzler was a good old lady
and will be greatly missed by the cit-
izens and people of Creighton.  She
was known universally as "Grandma" 
Fitzler and her kindly nature had
made for her friends in every corner
of Knox county.

 Lots of great information! First, a more accurate date for her husband's death. I had been assuming it was between his appearance in the 1880 US Census and the 1900 US Census when Helena was listed alone in Creighton. This narrows that range down to sometime around 1892, twelve years before Helena's death. Awesome! Second, I now have the married names of all her daughters, even though the spelling on some is horribly butchered (it's Richling, Boisdorf and Huigens). These are my Grandpa Joe's aunts on his mother's side. Wunderbar!

However, I don't believe she came to America with her parents. I have her a on passenger list for the Charles Cooper with her future sister-in-law. I'll check the list for other Schmitt's but I'll be surprised if I find any. On the other hand, they would have been the grandparents for these seven children. If one of the daughters was the informant for this article, they probably knew better than me. On the third hand, on her death certificate, Helena's parents are listed as "Mr. Smith" and "Mrs. Helena Schmitt." If they knew their grandparents, why didn't they know their grandfather's name?

Several questions answered and a new one raised.

Tombstone Tuesday: First of the Great-Greats

I've posted photos of the grave markers for all my grandparents and great-grandparents. So it's on to the great-great-grandparents.

I've previously posted about my great-great-grandfather Evert Huigens's broken tombstone. His wife, my great-great-grandmother Katherine (Toemmes) Huigens Wend remarried after his death. She and her second husband, Nicholas Wend, are buried in St. Patrick Cemetery in Henry, Marshall Co., IL.

April 2012: Status of research on Esther Louise Johnson

Here is the status of my research on my maternal grandmother. I've switched to keeping these documents as notes in Evernote. I've set up a notebook for each surname in my ancestry, named starting with the ahnentafel number of the first female ancestor with that surname. So the research status note for Grandma Ogden is in notebook "007-Johnson."

7. Esther Louise JOHNSON
What was her full name?

Esther L OGDEN: grave marker, SD death record, funeral card, obit

Esther Laurie JOHNSON: newspaper report of marriage license [hand-written correction to “Louise”]

Esther Louise JOHNSON: NE state report of marriage, SS-5

To-do: Rock Island Co. birth record, church baptism record, SS-5, newspapers, Sheridan Co. marriage license

To-do: children’s vital records, Rock Island Co. birth record, church baptism record, newspapers, Sheridan Co. marriage license

Who were her parents?

Gust and Rose JOHNSON: 1910 US Census

Gust A and Rose JOHNSON: 1920 US Census

Gust A JOHNSON and Rosabell STRAYER: NE state report of marriage

Gust A JOHNSON and Rosabelle STRAYER: SD death record

Gust. A. JOHNSON and Roseabelle STRAYER: SS-5

Gust and Rosabelle JOHNSON: obituary

To-do: Rock Island Co. birth record, church baptism record, newspapers, mother’s obituary, Sheridan Co. marriage license; children not listed in father’s obituary

When was she born?

23-Feb-1902: Grave marker, obituary, funeral card, SSDI, SD death record, SS-5

abt 1902: 1910, 1920, 1930 US census, 1935 SD Census, NE state report of marriage

abt 1903: 1945 SD Census

To-do: Rock Island Co. birth record, church baptism record, newspapers

Where was she born?

Milan, Rock Island Co., IL: obituary, children’s 1945 SD Census card images, SS-5

IL: 1910, 1920, 1930 US Census

NE: 1935 SD Census, children’s 1935 SD Census cards

To-do: find exact location of family in 1902 land records, Rock Island Co. birth record, county or city directory for 1902, newspapers, children’s census records

Where did she go to school?

Gordon HS: interview with Mom on 7-Mar-2010

To-do: NE school census, Gordon HS records

How long did she go to school?

After 11th grade, family moved to Henning MN, new HS wouldn’t accept all her credits, would have had to retake classes, decided to skip it and did not attend HS in MN, she never graduated from HS: interview with Mom on 7-Mar-2010

11 g: 1935 SD Census

3 years of high school: 1940 US Census\

12 gr: 1945 SD Census

To-do: NE school census, Gordon HS records

When did her family move from IL to Wayne Co., NE?  

Sometime between 1902 birth and Apr 1910 since they are In Wayne Co., NE in Apr 1910: 1910 US Census

“At the age of 2 she moved with her parents to Winside, NE”: obituary (that would make it ca. 1904)

        To-do: IL and NE land records, county directories, newspapers

When from Wayne Co. to Gordon?  

Between Apr 1910 and Apr 1914: 1910 US Census and obituary for Harriet (Howard) STRAYER when Esther is in Gordon

“...in 1920 she moved to Gordon, NE”: obituary [this is most likely when they moved to MN]

To-do: NE land records, county directories, newspapers

When to Henning?

Moved to Henning during summer between Jr and Sr year of high school: interview with Mom on 7-Mar-2010 (that would be about 1919, but they are in Gordon at the end of Jan, begin of Feb for 1920 US Census; they probably moved in the summer of 1920)\

bef. 19 Mar 1929: NE state report of marriage

To-do: IL, NE and MN land records, county directories, newspapers

Where did she live?

313 Spruce St., Gordon, NE in Oct. 1963: SS-5

See father and husband’s records

When did she die?

24-Mar-1984: Obituary, grave marker, funeral card, SD state death record

To-do: Rushville church records (Morse Methodist), probate recordsMar-1984: SSDI

Where did she die?

Black Hills Rehabilitation Hospital, Rapid City: Obituary, SD state death record

To-do: Nothing

What was the cause of death?

Cardio-respiratory arrest, orthostatic pneumonia, general inanition: SD death record

To-do: Nothing

Where is she buried?

Fairview Cemetery in Rushville: funeral card, grave marker photo, obituary, SD state death record

To do: Nothing

The only thing that I'd like to know more about is the exact location of her family when she was born. In 1900 her parents were living in Milan, Blackhawk Twp., Rock Island Co., IL. The census listing indicates they were renting, so land records probably won't help. I need to look for city or township or county directories from this time period.

Census Sunday: Another 1790 entry

Today I decided to see if there was anyone else in my family tree that would have been in the 1790 US Census. I have previously blogged about finding Peter Strayer and George Stauch and George Schaeffer. I went through the family tree again and discovered that Johann Georg Klinefelter, another fifth great-grandfather and father-in-law of George Schaeffer, died in 1794 in Shrewsbury, Dover Co., PA. I went looking for him in the 1790 US Census and found him with no trouble.

(1790 U.S. census, Shrewsbury, York Township, York County, Pennsylvania, p.3 , col. 2, line 1, John Clinefelter; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 Apr 2012); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M637, Roll: 9; Page: 359; Image: 195.)

He's there at the top of the second column as John Clinefelter. There are other Shrewsbury Clinefelter and Kleinfeller [sic] households at the bottom of the first column. They are probably related somehow, maybe sons or brothers.

By clicking on an ancestry.com leaf, I also discovered that someone had posted a photocopy of a page from a book called "Early German Settlers of York County, Pennsylvania" by Keith A. Dull. (Dull, Keith A. 2009. Early German settlers of York County, Pennsylvania. Westminster, MD: Heritage Books.) Originally published in 1997, a revised edition was last published in May 2009. The library in Ft. Wayne has a copy (not sure which edition) so I added it to my list for that library on Worldcat.org. It should be a great source of information on my Strayer, Stauch, Schaeffer and Klinefelter lines and any other early German families of that area that I don't know about yet.

Surname Saturday: 73 - Schmitz

This week begins the thirty-two surnames introduced by my great-great-great-great-grandmothers, my grandparents' grandparents' grandmothers. Except I don't know all thirty-two names. I think I have eight of them, plus the patronymic names of four Swedish g-g-g-g-grandmothers.

Ahnentafel numbers 65 and 67 are in my unexplored Dutch line. 69 and 71 are the mothers of Johan Toemmes and Maria Schmitt of Trassem, Prussia. Trassem is now located in the Trier-Saarburg district in the west of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

Which bring us to number 73, Anna Margaretha Schmitz.

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)

72. Heinrich FITZLER (b. 11 Jan 1750 in Neukirchen, Palatinate, HRE, m. ? in ?, d. ? in ?)
73. Anna Margaretha SCHMITZ (b. 15 Sep 1760 in Neukirchen, Palatinate, HRE, d. ? in ?)

146, Wimar SCHMITZ

147. Barbara WIEDENHOEFER

I get the feeling that Schmitz research in Germany will be about as easy as researching my two separate Schmitt lines.