Mystery Monday: The death of Mary Huigens

Where did my great-grandmother, Mary (Fitzler) Huigens die in Feb. 1949? I 'm not really sure. I sent away for a Nebraska death certificate because she lived in Creighton, NE for all of her adult life and is buried there with my great-grandfather. To my surprise, no Nebraska death record was found. I've checked the South Dakota death records on ancestry.com that cover this time period and she's not there either. That seemed a possibility because Creighton is close to the SD border.

As far as I know, all of her children lived in NE at that time. All I have to go on is a vague rumor that she died in Iowa and some of my dad's cousins remember something about a problem getting her body back on the train because of the blizzard of 1949.

The next step is to include her in a big order of Iowa death records when I've got the time and the money.

SNGF: Genealogical Time Capsule

Yesterday's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun from Bill West via Randy Seaver.

1. Make a list of what you would put in a time capsule and why you'd choose each item.

2, What would you use for the time capsule? Where would you have it kept?

3. Write a blog post with the above information. If you don't have a blog,  send your time capsule idea to me as a comment to this post or email it to me. If you do have a blog, make sure to send me the link to your time capsule post.

I'm doing this a day late because I already completely answered today's prompt for Fearless Females two years ago. In fact, I'm not going to do the Fearless Female prompts because I've realized they are the same as what I did two years ago and I'd just be repeating myself. 

I would put the following items in a time capsule:

• The handwritten transposition of Nessum Dorma that I did from trombone/baritone to tuba so I could perform it at a recital
• A copy of the chess score sheet when I was one of two players to beat Arthur Bisguier in a simul at the University of Chicago in the late 1970s.
• Pictures of my three children at various ages
• My wife and I's favorite wedding photo
• A copy of my AB and AM degrees along with my college transcript
• A copy of my resume
• A Chicago Cubs baseball cap with an "If it takes forever" pin
• Jerseys or scarves from my favorite soccer teams (Brazil/USA/Corinthians/Sheffield Wednesday/Chicago Fire)
• My mom's chocolate cookie recipe

We're gonna need a bigger boat. I'd put all of this in something ordered from this site. My wife has a safety deposit box. She says I can keep it there but I'm not allowed to start squirreling away things for after the Apocalypse.

Fearless Females: Day 3

March 3 — Do you share a first name with one of your female ancestors? Perhaps you were named for your great-grandmother, or your name follows a particular naming pattern. If not, then list the most unique or unusual female first name you’ve come across in your family tree.

I don't have any female ancestors named Kevin. That'd be really unusual. 

I already wrote about Alchey Garrison two years ago. 

Some of the other interesting female first names in my family tree are Iona, Fern, Valeria, Beryl, and Eula. Iona LaVena Ogden has probably the most unusual middle name.

Fearless Females: Day 2

March 2 — Post a photo of one of your female ancestors. Who is in the photo? When was it taken? Why did you select this photo?

This is a photo of my great-grandmother, Margaret (Kennedy) Kain. She is my father's maternal grandmother. Her parents were Irish immigrants. I don't when the photo was taken, but since she died in 1931 at the age of 67, it was probably taken sometime in the 1920s. I chose this photo because it's the only one I have of her. I wish I had more. I have pictures of most of my other great-grandparents when they were younger, but only this one of her. 

Fearless Females: Day 1

Since I'm trying to keep up the pace of a blog post a day, I guess I'll take advantage of Lisa Alzo's Fearless Females blog prompts for Women's History Month.

March 1 — Do you have a favorite female ancestor? One you are drawn to or want to learn more about? Write down some key facts you have already learned or what you would like to learn and outline your goals and potential sources you plan to check.

My favorite female ancestor is my Grandma Julia, but she is not the one I want to learn more about. If I had to pick someone for that, I'd go with Hanora (Collins) Wallace Kennedy, one of my Irish great-great-grandmothers.

 What I know comes partly from her grave marker and partly from hand-written notes made by her granddaughter, my Grandma Julia's cousin. Hanora or Nora, was supposedly born in the parish of Glenbrohane in County Limerick. Her first husband's last name was Wallace (or Wallis). She had two daughters with him, Ellen/Nellie born in Ireland and Hanora/Nora in the US. She later married my great-great-grandfather John Kennedy and they settled near Clinton, IA and had four children. I've requested a records search in County Limerick for records of Hanora Collins and Ellen Wallace, but they turned up nothing. Her obituary provided no additional clues.

The next steps are county death records to look for parents' names, a search for marriage records in Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin and a search in those three state for death records for a male Wallace of about her age dying between the birth of their last daughter and her second marriages. I'd welcome an other suggestions of  how to find more information about her.