Covering genealogy, family history, historical events and places, and anything else related!

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Talented Tuesday: Florence Boe, Dancer

My maternal grandfather's sister Florence Kathleen Boe (22 November 1909 - 19 October 1992) was a dancer. She began studying dance at the age of seven. She taught dance at the Hagen Conservatory in St. Louis, Missouri, and eventually had her own dance studio. She was involved in opera and theatrical productions.

Bwana (yearbook, Roosevelt High School, St. Louis, Missouri), June 1926, p. 64. Available from Ancestry.com. U.S. School Yearbooks, 1880-2012 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Florence Boe. From Boe (Bø) and Halvorson-Otterholt; Shared Roots in Telemark. Compiled by Melvin and Alpha M. (Boe) Brodshaug, 1984. Published by Arlene (Boe) Christensen and Marjorie (Boe) Bergee. Printed by Anundsen Publishing Co., Decorah, Iowa.

Gould's St. Louis City Directory, 1929. Available from Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Gould's St. Louis City Directory, 1937. Available from Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. 

Western Military Academy Shrapnel (Alton, IL) 8 April 1937

References
Boe (Bø) and Halvorson-Otterholt; Shared Roots in Telemark. Compiled by Melvin and Alpha M. (Boe) Brodshaug, 1984. Published by Arlene (Boe) Christensen and Marjorie (Boe) Bergee. Printed by Anundsen Publishing Co., Decorah, Iowa.

Monday, March 30, 2015

Madness Monday: Occupation: Deranged

My great-great-grandfather's sister Julia Tarkington married Frederick R. Johnson on 13 August 1898 in New York City. They separated less than a year later. Julia provided information about the Tarkington family to Edythe Rucker Whitley, and the compiled information includes the following statement about Julia's husband Fred: "He was so disipated [sic] that she was unable to live with him." Perhaps Fred took after his mother, Caroline R. "Carrie" (Dabbs) Johnson; she was listed as "Deranged" in the "Profession, Occupation, or Trade of each person, male or female" category in the 1880 United States census.

1880 United States census, Rutland Village, Rutland County, Vermont, population schedule, enumeration district 188, page 328A. Available from Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.

Here is a closeup of the family's enumeration:

Sunday, March 29, 2015

52 Ancestors: Week 13 "Different": Aaste Halvorsdatter Otterholt

The book Boe (Bø) and Halvorson-Otterholt; Shared Roots in Telemark, compiled by Melvin and Alpha M. (Boe) Brodshaug, begins with "A Brief History of the Boe (Bø) Family," written by Melvin Brodshaug.  He wrote the following about my great-great-grandmother Aaste Halvorsdatter Otterholt: "Grandmother, Aasta, was a woman of great presence.Where-ever she was, she definitely took charge." That description does not fit me at all. I am not the leader type, and am more likely to remain in the background unnoticed. So I have chosen to write about Aaste for 52 Ancestors Week 13: "Different." 

Aaste Boe. Photo from Boe (Bø) and Halvorson-Otterholt; Shared Roots in Telemark. Compiled by Melvin and Alpha M. (Boe) Brodshaug, 1984. Published by Arlene (Boe) Christensen and Marjorie (Boe) Bergee. Printed by Anundsen Publishing Co., Decorah, Iowa.

Aaste was born on 3 February 1854 in Bø, Telemark, Norway. She was the daughter of Halvor Eriksen Otterholt and Guro Hansdatter Askilt. 

Aaste Halvorsdatter birth/baptism record. Telemark county, Bø, Parish register (official) nr. 8 (1849-1861), Birth and baptism records 1854, page 60. http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-kb20051011050511.jpg

Aaste and her family lived on the Otterholdt (or Otterholt) farm in Bø. She was enumerated there with her family in the 1865 Norway Census. On 20 April 1867, she and her family departed from Skien, Telemark, Norway on the Rjukan, and they arrived in Quebec, Canada on 30 May 1867.

Passenger list, Rjukan, 1867. Passenger Lists, 1865–1935. Microfilm Publications T-479 to T-520, T-4689 to T-4874, T-14700 to T-14939, C-4511 to C-4542. Library and Archives Canada, n.d. RG 76-C. Department of Employment and Immigration fonds. Library and Archives Canada Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Available from Ancestry.com. Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.

The family settled in Canisteo, Dodge County, Minnesota. On 17 December 1873, in nearby Rock Dell, Olmstead County, Minnesota, Aaste married her second cousin Jorgen Jorgensen Boe.
 
Marriage record, Gorgen (Jorgen) Bue and Aaste Halvorson. State of Minnesota, County of Olmstead, 17 December 1873.

Jorgen and Aaste's daughter Kari was born in Rock Dell on 5 April 1874. By 1875, they had moved to Swenoda, Swift County, Minnesota. Their son John, my great-grandfather, was born 15 March 1876. They were living in nearby Chippewa County by 5 February 1878, when their son Hans Adolph was born. They were in Big Bend, Chippewa County in 1880. Jorgen applied for a land patent in 1880 under the Homestead Act of 1862, for 40 acres of land in Swift County, Minnesota, but his application was commuted when he paid cash for the land in 1882. Their son Theodore Jorgen was born on 16 July 1883. In 1885, the family lived in nearby Lac qui Parle, Lac Qui Parle County, Minnesota. Jorgen and Aaste's last child, Hannah Gurina Boe, was born on 23 May 1886. In 1895 the family was living in West Bank, Swift County, on the land that Jorgen had purchased.

Aaste's husband Jorgen died on 17 December 1900, the couple's 27th wedding anniversary. He was buried at Big Bend Lutheran Church Cemetery. In "A Brief History of the Boe (Bø) Family" in Boe (Bø) and Halvorson-Otterholt; Shared Roots in Telemark, Melvin Brodshaug wrote about the pine tree that Aaste planted by Jorgen's grave. The Big Bend Lutheran Church Council passed a by-law which forbade the planting of trees in the churchyard, but Aaste's pine tree was allowed to remain in the churchyard.

On 6 August 1906, Aaste declared her intention to become a citizen of the United States. Her husband Jorgen had declared his intention in 1874 and had become a citizen of the United States by 1881. Aaste became a citizen when her husband did, so she did not need to declare her intention. Perhaps she was not sure of her status.

Aaste H. Boe declaration of intention, 6 August 1906. Swift County District Court, State of Minnesota. It is clear from the use of "he" and "his" on the certificate that women did not often declare their intentions.

By 1910, Aaste was living with her daughter Hannah, Hannah's husband Henry Einerson, and their children. She resided with them until her death on 17 February 1922.

Certificate of death, Aasta Boe. 17 February 1922. State of Minnesota, Division of Vital Statistics.

Aaste was buried in Big Bend Lutheran Church Cemetery on 21 February 1922. At her funeral service, Reverend Theo. Bergee preached in Norwegian and Reverend E. I. Strom preached in English.

Milan Standard, 24 February 1922

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Sibling Saturday: Two Sisters, One Husband

On 26 June 1902, my 2nd-great-grandmother's brother Emil Richard Borg married Elizabeth Henrika Carlson in Porter County, Indiana. They were married by M. J. Lonner, Minister.

Indiana, Marriages, 1811-1959, index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDHQ-6Q1), Emil R Borg and Elizabeth H Carlson, 26 Jun 1902; citing Porter, Indiana, county clerk offices, Indiana; FHL microfilm 1,686,211.

After their marriage, Emil and Elizabeth lived in Chicago, Illinois. Sadly, they were only married for a year and a half. Elizabeth died of pneumonitis on 31 December 1903. She was buried in Augsburg Lutheran Church Cemetery in Porter, Porter County, Indiana.

Emil had moved back to Porter County, Indiana by 1907. On 11 December 1907, he married Julia Maria Carlson in Porter County, Indiana. They were married by J. E Nystrom, Minister. Julia was Elizabeth's older sister (two years her senior).

Indiana, Marriages, 1811-1959, index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDHQ-X1L), Emil Richard Borg and Julia Maria Carlson, 11 Dec 1907; citing Porter, Indiana, county clerk offices, Indiana; FHL microfilm 1,686,212.

Emil and Julia remained married until his death in 1940. They had a daughter, Dorothy Elizabeth Borg, and a son, Delmar Emil Borg.

Friday, March 27, 2015

Friend of Friends Friday: Will of William Tarkington

On 22 April 1831 in Williamson County, Tennessee, William Tarkington wrote his will. He died by January 1833, when the will was recorded.




Source for all images: Ancestry.com. Tennessee Divorce and Other Records, 1800-1965 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Tennessee. County records. Nashville, Tennessee: Tennessee State Library and Archives. Microfilm roll numbers 99 to 108, 115, 336 to 337, 428 to 431, 519, A-4098, A-5278, B-1 to B-9, B-44 to B-127, B-314, B-441 to B-445, B-471 to B-473, B-1607 to B-1613, and B-1781 to B-1789. Williamson County: Divorce Files, 1900-1950; Divorce, Probate, and Other Records, 1800-1899; School Censuses, 1838-1918; Miscellaneous Records (ex. Apprentice, Land Sales, Liquor Licenses, Slave Records); Birth and Death Records, 1920-1939).

I have transcribed the portions of the will which mention William Tarkington's slaves.

First I give and bequeath to my grand Son William Tarkinton Son of Isaac Tarkinton one Negro Boy named America to him and his heirs forever

6th I give and bequeath to my grand Son Jesse Cox Son of James Cox one Negro Boy Named Gabriel to him and his heirs forever

8th I give and bequeath unto Catharine Phelps reputed daughter of Isaac Tillett deceased my grand Son Eighty Dollars when of age or married to be Raised out of the Sales of Morris and Peter

9th I give and Bequeath unto my Son Isaac Tarkinton Mary Hassell the heirs of Nancy Cox (as one share) Sarah Tillett Hanah Tarkinton the Heirs of Benjamin Tarkinton Deceased that is unmarried (as one share) Elizabeth Prewitt the Ballance of the price of the Sales of Peter and Morris to them and their Heirs for ever

10th it is my will and desire that after my Departure the Said Two Negroes Named Morris and Peter Shall be Sold by my Executor on a Credit of Twelve Months and he to be Careful to take Bond and good Surety for the purchase Money

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Thriller Thursday: Lakeport Grocery Holdup

On 30 December 1957, two men robbed the Lakeport Grocery in Lakeport, Sullivan, Madison County, New York. My first cousin twice removed Louise Margaret Gray and her husband Leonard Smith operated the store. Leonard was hit on the head with a pipe, and the men stole about $60 from the cash register.

 Daily Sentinel (Rome, NY), 31 December 1957, page 12

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Maryland Day

Maryland Tercentenary postage stamp, 1934. By U.S. Post Office [Public domain]. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

March 25 is Maryland Day. The day commemorates the arrival of the first settlers in Maryland. On 22 March 1634, two ships, the Ark and the Dove, landed at St. Clemens Island (now St. Mary's County).

Maryland Day was first observed in 1903, after the State Board of Education chose March 25 as a day to honor local history. In 1916, the Maryland General Assembly authorized Maryland Day as a legal holiday.

My 9th-great-grandfathers James Greer and Nicholas Day lived in Maryland, in the Gunpowder River area. James Greer's son John (born about 1688) married Nicholas Day's daughter Sarah. They were my 8th-great-grandparents.

References
Maryland at a Glance: Maryland Day - March 25
Maryland Day

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Talented Tuesday: Paula Christina (Schneider) Nagy


My maternal grandmother's sister Paula Christina (Schneider) Nagy was a violinist. She played first violin with the St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra in the 1930s and was the first concertmaster of the St. Louis Women's Symphony Orchestra. She later became concertmaster of the Kirkwood Symphony Orchestra. Her husband Laszlo James Nagy was also a violinist. The Nagys moved from St. Louis, Missouri to Boston, Massachusetts when Laszlo joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In the early 1950s, Paula played second stand violin with the Boston Civic Symphony. She taught violin in St. Louis. She also played piano, and taught both violin and piano in Newton, Massachusetts for more than 40 years.

References
Paula C. (Schneider) Nagy obituary. Daily Hampshire Gazette, 24 February 2004.

Monday, March 23, 2015

Matrilineal Monday: Haplogroup H2a

H2a. From Figure 3: Geographic maps of haplogroup frequencies for haplogroups H*, H1, H2a, H3, H4, H5a, H6a, H7, H8, H11. Álvarez-Iglesias V, Mosquera-Miguel A, Cerezo M, Quintáns B, Zarrabeitia MT, et al. (2009) New Population and Phylogenetic Features of the Internal Variation within Mitochondrial DNA Macro-Haplogroup R0. PLoS ONE 4(4): e5112. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0005112

My mitochondrial DNA haplogroup is H2a. It is a subclade of haplogroup H, which is the most common haplogroup in Europe.

Haplogroup H2a is most common in Eastern Europe. It is found at a low frequency in Western Europe. Its range extends to Central Asia. It is a branch of H2, which is most common in Germany and Scotland.

My known ancestors in my mitochondrial line are:
My mother
Margaret Ann Schneider
Paulina Gersbacher
Kunigunde Dreier
Franziska Schäuble (24 September 1821 - 21 May 1882)
Maria Anna Albiez (2 July 1796 - 20 March 1847)
Elisabeth Arzner (about 1758 - 26 September 1815)

Paulina Gersbacher, my most recent German-born ancestor in this line, was born in Niederwihl (now part of Görwihl), Waldshut, Baden, Germany. Her mother Kunigunde Dreier and grandmother Franziska Schäuble were also born in Niederwihl. Maria Anna Albiez was born in Oberwihl (also now part of Görwihl). Elisabeth Arzner may also have been born in Oberwihl; if not; she probably was born nearby.

References
All about haplotype H
Haplogroup H (mtDNA)

Sunday, March 22, 2015

52 Ancestors: Week 12 "Same": Alpha Madeline Boe

At first I was not sure which relative I wanted to feature for 52 Ancestors Week 12, "Same." But then I read Schalene Dagutis Jennings' Week 12 post about her relative who wrote a book on one of her ancestors and his descendants. I have a relative who did the same thing: Alpha Madeline Boe, my maternal grandfather's first cousin.

Alpha Madeline Boe was born on 12 November 1901 in Swift County, Minnesota. She was the daughter of Hans Adolph Boe (the brother of my great-grandfather John Boe) and Unni (or Eunice) Severina Saterlie. In 1905, she and her family lived on the Saterlie farm in Milan, Chippewa County, Minnesota. The family then moved to Williston, Williams County, North Dakota. In 1915, the family moved to Arnegard, McKenzie County, North Dakota. Alpha attended high school in Williston; she graduated from Williston High School in 1919. Alpha was enumerated twice in the 1920 United States census: once with her parents and siblings in St. Louis, Missouri, and once in Arnegard, as a boarder in the home of Walter and Josephine Robb. In both censuses, she was listed as a school teacher. She and her father were both listed in the 1920 Little Rock, Arkansas city directory as well. She taught intermediate grades for three years in Arnegard. She also taught in Montana.

She married Melvin Brodshaug in Arnegard on 27 December 1927. In 1928, the couple moved to New York City, where Melvin studied at Columbia University and received his Ph.D. Alpha worked at B. Altman and Co. and taught at Altman Continuation School. She and Melvin had two daughters.

Melvin worked for Erpi Classroom Films, which became Encyclopedia Britannica Films. Erpi moved from New York to Wilmette, Illinois in 1945. Alpha was on the Board of Deaconesses of the Congregational Church in Wilmette.

The family moved to Boston, Massachusetts in 1954, when Melvin became the Dean of the School of Public Relations, Boston University. Alpha was on the Council of the Old South Church. She did volunteer work at Boston City Hospital as a member of the Rotary Anns. She was a member of the Boston University Women's Council. She was a board member of the Boston University Women's Guild.

The Brodshaugs moved to Virginia for five years in the mid-1960s, after Melvin retired and became a communications consultant for Norfolk State College. They then moved back to Massachusetts and lived in Harwich Port, Barnstable County, on Cape Cod. Alpha and Melvin went into the production of educational sound filmstrips. Alpha belonged to the Pilgrim Service League of the Congregational Church in Harwich Port.

In 1973, Alpha and Melvin traveled to Bø, Telemark, Norway, where her (and my grandfather's) paternal grandparents had been born. They met with the local genealogist, Johannes Saga. They traveled to Bø again in 1976, along with one of their daughters and three of their grandchildren. They visited the house where her (and my grandfather's) grandfather and his ancestors had been born. They also visited the Otterholt house, where her (and my grandfather's) grandmother had lived.

Alpha and Melvin compiled the book Boe (Bø) and Halvorson-Otterholt; Shared Roots in Telemark, which was published in 1984. The book contained information about the ancestral families of her (and my grandfather's) paternal grandparents, Jorgen Boe and Aaste Halvorsdatter Otterholt, and also covered their descendants. Alpha and Melvin contacted family members and requested information. I remember providing information about myself for the book. I was in high school at the time. Although I did not start researching my family history until later, when my family received our copy of the book, I read it and was fascinated.

Alpha and Melvin compiled another book on her mother's side of the family: Saterlie – Fedje: Common Roots in Sogn. It was published in 1986. Melvin also published additional works on his family.

Alpha died on 4 December 1997. Her husband Melvin had died nine years earlier, on 18 May 1988.

In the acknowledgements at the beginning of Boe (Bø) and Halvorson-Otterholt; Shared Roots in Telemark, Melvin and Alpha wrote "Hopefully, some one will pick up the challenge and extend this genealogy both in breadth and depth." I think they would be pleased that I have continued to research the family.

 
Keiter Directory Co.'s Williston City and Williams County, North Dakota Directory, 1918-1919. Norfolk, Nebraska: Keiter Directory Co. Available from Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Alpha was living apart from the rest of her family while she attended high school.

References
Boe (Bø) and Halvorson-Otterholt; Shared Roots in Telemark. Compiled by Melvin and Alpha M. (Boe) Brodshaug, 1984. Published by Arlene (Boe) Christensen and Marjorie (Boe) Bergee. Printed by Anundsen Publishing Co., Decorah, Iowa. 
Rural Cass County: The Land and People. West Fargo, ND: Cass County Historical Society, 1976.

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Sympathy Saturday: Great-Grandfather's Sister-in-Law Killed in Automobile Accident After Visit

Floy Gamble, the sister of my great-grandfather John Boe's third wife Anna Mae Gamble, was killed in an automobile accident on 25 July 1938 in South Bend Township, Blue Earth County, Minnesota. She had been visiting John and Anna Mae at their home in Algona, Kossuth County, Iowa. As she headed home, she apparently fell asleep at the wheel and drove into a ditch.

Floy was born in Indiana in March 1884. She was the daughter of Henry Harrison Gamble and Louisa Tilford.

Her funeral took place in Martinsville, Morgan County, Indiana. John and Anna Mae Boe traveled to Indiana for the funeral. John returned to Algona on August 1; Anna Mae stayed longer, probably to spend time with her family.

Until I found the news report of Floy's accident, I had not known that my great-grandfather had lived in Algona. I think he only lived there for a year or two.

Kossuth County Advance, 28 July 1938, page 1

Kossuth County Advance, 4 August 1938, page 1

Friday, March 20, 2015

World Storytelling Day

March 20 is World Storytelling Day. It began in Sweden when an event was organized for March 20 in approximately 1991-1992, Alla berattares dag (All Storytellers Day). The day continued to be celebrated throughout Sweden. March 20 was also the National Day of Storytellers in Mexico and other Latin American countries. In Perth, Australia in 1997, a five-week Celebration of Story was held,and March 20 was celebrated as the International Day of Oral Narrators. The Scandinavian storytelling network Ratatosk started in approximately 2001, and in 2002, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Lithuania began holding storytelling events on March 20. Canada and other countries began observing the event in 2003, and it became known as World Storytelling Day. The day celebrates oral storytelling. People throughout the world tell stories in many places, in many languages.

My uncle John "Dobby" Boe is a professional storyteller. The places he has performed at include the Bay Area Storytelling Festival, the Sonoma Storytelling Festival, the Diablo Valley College Ethnic Storytelling Festival, International House Davis, UC Davis Picnic Day, and the Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse. He appeared on ABC's 20/20.

References
Storyteller Visits I-House on Sunday
UC Davis: University Writing Program : John Boe, Emeritus
World Storytelling Day
World Storytelling Day: A Global Celebration of Storytelling

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Thriller Thursday: Attack with Brandy Tumbler

In my 4th-great-grandfather Hugh Winters' Brooklyn neighborhood, a 20-year-old woman, Emma Burke, attacked another woman, Sarah Daily, with a brandy tumbler on 24 September 1866. The incident took place in the same building as O'Malley's bar, where Eugene Fergus shot Patrick McGuann (who later died from the gunshot) the previous month. My 4th-great-grandfather testified for the defense at Fergus' trial.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 25 September 1866

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Happy Birthday, Dad!


In honor of my father's birthday, I am posting his baby picture. He was two months old when this photo was taken.

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

St. Patrick's Day

Since today is St. Patrick's Day, I am posting newspaper items from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle that were published on St. Patrick's Day between 1851 and 1870. My 4th-great-grandparents Hugh Winters and Mary Bennet and their children arrived in New York in 1849 and settled in Brooklyn. Their son John, my 3rd-great-grandfather, left Brooklyn (he was in Tonawanda, New York by 1859), but Hugh and other members of the family remained in Brooklyn. They had come from Leith, Scotland, but Hugh was born in Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, Ireland, and Mary was also born in Ireland.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 17 March 1851, page 3

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 17 March 1860, page 2

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 17 March 1865, page 2

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 17 March 1870, page 13

Other Irish ancestors of mine are Anna "Ann" Walker and her mother Ann, Mary Nevins, and Michael Dyer (from County Roscommon) and his wife Mary.

Monday, March 16, 2015

Matrilineal Monday: Happy Birthday, Grandma Boe!

My maternal grandmother Margaret Ann (Schneider) Boe was born 104 years ago today.

St. Louis, Missouri. Bureau of Vital Statistics. Certificate no. 161889, Margaret Ann Schneider, 16 March 1911. Certified copy, 17 December 1958.

I love you, Grandma! You were the best.

Sunday, March 15, 2015

52 Ancestors: Week 11 "Luck of the Irish": Ann (Unknown) Walker

None of my Irish ancestors seem to have been particularly lucky; they experienced many difficulties throughout their lives. But I got lucky when I finally learned more about my 3rd-great-grandmother Anna "Ann" Walker and discovered her mother Ann.

When the 1855 New York State Census became available online, I was able to locate the Walker family. They moved from Seneca, Ontario County, New York to Buffalo, Erie County, New York that year, and were enumerated twice. That was definitely a lucky find! The Buffalo enumeration states that the family had lived in Buffalo for 1/12 of a year.

1855 New York State Census, Seneca, Ontario County, population schedule, enumeration district 1, page 20. Available from FamilySearch.

1855 New York State Census, Buffalo, Erie County, population schedule, enumeration district 8, page 50. Available from FamilySearch.

According to the census records, Ann was born about 1811 or 1812 in Ireland. There were four children in her household: her son James, born about 1837 in Ireland; her daughter Ann (my 3rd-great-grandmother), born about 1842 or 1843 in Ireland (according to the Winters family Bible, she was born on 28 February 1842); and twins William and Dora (born about 1851 and 1852).

Since there was a ten-year age gap between my 3rd-great-grandmother and the twins, I wonder if there were children that died. Another possibility is that Ann's husband, who had apparently died by 1855, may have left for North America before the rest of his family.

There is one big discrepancy between the two census records. According to the Seneca enumeration, William and Dora were born in Ontario County, New York, and the family had resided in Seneca for 9 years. According to the Buffalo enumeration, William and Dora were born in Canada.

In 1860, Ann was still living in Buffalo with her children James, William, and Dora. My 3rd-great-grandmother Ann had married in 1859 and was living nearby in Tonawanda with her husband, John Bennet Winters.

1860 United States census, 9th Ward, Buffalo, Erie County, New York, population schedule, page 635. Available from Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. 

Ann's son James is the only member of the household who is listed with an occupation, so he was probably supporting the family. The twins are listed as being born in Canada. I suspect that they were born in Canada, since I cannot locate the family in the 1850 United States census. Perhaps the enumerator in Seneca was told that the twins were born in Ontario and he misunderstood, since Seneca is in Ontario County. 9 years may have been the length of time that the family lived in North America. I have not located the family in the 1851 Census of Canada either, but that census was actually taken in 1852, and perhaps the family left for New York shortly before the census was taken.

Ann probably left Ireland with her family during or shortly after the Great Famine. She may have lost several children. She was likely widowed (unless she and her husband separated, or she was never married). Her husband may have died after the family arrived in North America, or he could have died while she was pregnant, either in Ireland or on the way over on the ship.

I have not been able to locate Ann or her children James, William, and Dora after 1860. Her daughter Ann was in Chicago by 1866, and died in 1872.

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Sports Center Saturday: Rudolf Caracciola


This statue of racing driver Rudolf Caracciola is located in Remagen, Kreis Ahrweiler, Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate), Germany. Remagen is his birthplace, and is also one of my ancestral towns.

Rudolf Caracciola was born on 30 January 1901. His ancestors came to Germany from Italy during the Thirty Years' War. He began driving before he was eighteen years old (the legal age). In 1922, while he was working at the Fafnir automobile factory in Aachen, he drove one of Fafnir's cars in the Automobil-Verkehrs- und Übungs-Straße (AVUS) race in Berlin, and was fourth overall. He won his next race, at the Opelbahn in Rüsselsheim. In 1923 he moved to Dresden, and won the ADAC (Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club e.V.) race. At first he continued to work for Fafnir, but he became a car salesman for Daimler later that year. He won eight races in 1925. In 1926, he won the German Grand Prix. He married Charlotte Liesen, and opened a Mercedes-Benz dealership on the Kurfürstendamm in Berlin. He finished third in the Monaco Grand Prix in 1929.

After Mercedes-Benz withdrew from racing in 1931, he raced for Alfa-Romeo. In 1933, after Alfa-Romeo withdrew from racing, he and his friend Louis Chiron formed their own team, Scuderia C.C. (Caracciola-Chiron). While practicing for the Monaco Grand Prix, he was seriously injured in an accident. In February 1934, his wife died in an avalanche while skiing.

Rudolf Caracciola returned to racing in 1934. He won his first European Drivers' Championship in 1935; he won two more in 1937 and 1938. He died on 28 September 1959.

When my great-grandfather's brother Carl (or Karl) Schneider was baptized in Remagen on 25 March 1885,  Karl Caracciola was one of the sponsors. I am not sure what the relationship was between Karl Caracciola  and Rudolf Caracciola, but they probably were related somehow.

References
Biography: Rudolf Caracciola (1901 - 1959)
Die Familie Caracciola in Remagen
Rudolf Caracciola
Rudolf Caracciola - Biography
Rudolf Caracciola: Official Website
Rudolf Otto Wilhelm Caracciola (1901-1959), Automobilrennfahrer

Friday, March 13, 2015

Friend of Friends Friday: John Greer's Bequests to His Daughters Ann Mitchell and Hannah Demoss

Excerpt from will of John Greer, 2 April 1782, Wilkes County, North Carolina, Wills. North Carolina Probate Records, 1735-1970, FamilySearch.

In his will, dated 2 April 1782, my 7th-great-grandfather John Greer included the following bequests to his daughters Ann Mitchell and Hannah Demoss:

I also give & bequeath to my daughter Ann Mitchell a certain negro girl named Pheby which she has now in possession & no more

I also give and bequeath to my daughter Hanah Demoss a certain negro girl named Hanah which she has now in possession

John Greer's daughter Hannah was the wife of Abraham Louis (or Lewis) Demoss (or DeMoss). The 1790 United States census enumeration for Wilkes County, North Carolina shows that the household of Louis Demoss included 5 slaves.

1790 United States Census, Wilkes County, North Carolina, page 149, Available from Ancestry.com. 1790 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Those Places Thursday: Pfarrkirche St. Severinus, Erpel, Germany


Pfarrkirche St. Severinus is a Roman Catholic Church in Erpel, Kreis Neuwied, Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate), Germany.

 
The church is a late Gothic column basilica which was built in the mid-13th century.  The tower basement is from an earlier nave church which was built in the 11th or early 12th century.


In 1751, the galleries were removed, a new roof was put on the tower, the height was increased on the roofs of the side naves, and the side towers were dismantled.


The church was renovated again in 1960-1967, and the galleries were restored.


According to legend, the original church hosted the remains of the Three Wise Men in 1164, when Rainald von Dassel, Archbishop of Cologne, brought them from Milan, Italy to Cologne.

My great-great-grandfather Carl Joseph Schneider and his siblings were baptized at St. Severinus. His parents Johann Wilhelm Schneider and Anna Sibylle Lindlohr were married there. Many earlier generations of the Lindlohr family attended St. Severinus.

References
A gem of  sacral archiecture: Erpel's parish church St. Severinus gets renovated - modifications are part of history
Parish Church St. Severinus
St. Severin (Erpel)

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

52 Ancestors: Week 10 "Stormy Weather": Thorkel Halvorson: Storms of Grasshoppers and Hail

My great-great-grandmother's brother Thorkel (or Torkel, Torkild, or Tarkild, and also known as Tom) Halvorson experienced "stormy weather" between 1876 and 1882, but things turned out well for him in the end.

Thorkel was born on 6 September 1852 in Bø, Telemark Norway. He was the son of my 3rd-great-grandparents Halvor Eriksen Otterholt and Guro Hansdatter.

Telemark county, Bø, Parish register (official) nr. 8 (1849-1861), Birth and baptism records 1852, page 44. http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-kb20051011050493.jpg

In 1865, the family lived on the Otterholdt (or Otterholt) farm in Bø.The family immigrated to the United States in 1867. On 20 April 1867, the family departed from Skien, Telemark, Norway on the Rjukan. They arrived in Quebec, Canada on 30 May 1867.

Passenger list, Rjukan, 1867. Passenger Lists, 1865–1935. Microfilm Publications T-479 to T-520, T-4689 to T-4874, T-14700 to T-14939, C-4511 to C-4542. Library and Archives Canada, n.d. RG 76-C. Department of Employment and Immigration fonds. Library and Archives Canada Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Available from Ancestry.com. Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.

The family settled in Canisteo, Dodge County, Minnesota, and were enumerated there in the 1870 United States Census. On 28 February 1877, Thorkel applied for a land patent through the Homestead Act of 1862 for land located in the north half, northwest quarter, section 32 of Township 120 North of Range No. 41 west of the Principal Meridian, Swift County, Minnesota.
Thorkel Halvorson land entry case file no. 5986, 1884. Benson, Minnesota Land Office. Records of the Bureau of Land Management, Record Group 49; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

However, his application was suspended because he was not on the land in time.

Thorkel Halvorson land entry case file no. 5986, 1884. Benson, Minnesota Land Office. Records of the Bureau of Land Management, Record Group 49; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

 Thorkel became a United States citizen on 5 June 1883. 
 
Thorkel Halvorson naturalization, 5 June 1883. Lac qui Parle District Court, State of Minnesota. From Thorkel Halvorson land entry case file no. 5986, 1884. Benson, Minnesota Land Office. Records of the Bureau of Land Management, Record Group 49; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

In a deposition taken on 25 July 1883, Thorkel explained that he had lost his crops to grasshoppers in 1876 and 1877, so he had to go off to work to support himself, and was unable to establish residence on the land until May 1878. He had to go to work in 1882 as well, when he lost his crops as a result of hail.

Thorkel Halvorson land entry case file no. 5986, 1884. Benson, Minnesota Land Office. Records of the Bureau of Land Management, Record Group 49; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

In 1873, grasshoppers came to Minnesota and began to destroy crops. R.L. Cartwright states in the MNopedia article Grasshopper Plagues, 1873-1877: "On June 12, 1873, farmers in southwestern Minnesota saw what looked like a snowstorm coming towards their fields from the west. Then they heard a roar of beating wings and saw that what seemed to be snowflakes were in fact grasshoppers." The grasshoppers were Rocky Mountain locusts. Between 1873 and 1877, they ate crops of all varieties, and even ate blankets and fence posts. They spread further into Minnesota each year. In 1876, they destroyed 500,000 acres of crops in 40 Minnesota counties.

Minnesota locusts (Rocky Mountain locust, Melanoplus spretus) of the 1870s. Jacoby's Art Gallery. Public domain. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

Farmers tried to get rid of the grasshoppers in many different ways: beating them with flails, crushing them, drowning them,burning fields, digging ditches, creating "hopper dozers" made of sheet metal covered in coal tar or molasses, shooting at swarms, and making loud noises.

Grasshopper plague in Minnesota. Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 1 September 1888, volume 67, page 37. Held by Minnesota Historical Society. Available from MNopedia.

Minnesota Governor John S. Pillsbury required men to destroy grasshopper eggs one day a week for five weeks in a row. He also proclaimed 26 April 1877 as a day of prayer and fasting. The grasshoppers finally left in the summer of 1877.

As Thorkel learned the hard way in 1882, hail could also be devastating to crops. Some farmers purchased hail insurance.

 Standard (Albert Lea, Minnesota), 22 June 1882, page 10

On 29 May 1884, Thorkel married Rosa Haukos in Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota. A month later, on 30 June 1884, he finally received his land patent

Thorkel Halvorson, Swift County, Minnesota. Certificate no. 5986. United States Bureau of Land Management, 30 June 1884.

In 1885, Thorkel and Rosa were living in Riverside, Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota. Their son Ervin Fremont Halvorson was born on 27 November 1885. Another son, Henry A. Halvorson, was born on 25 December 1887.

In 1895, Thorkel and his family were living in Madison, Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota. Thorkel remained in Madison for the rest of his life. In the 1900 United States Census, he is listed as a dealer in general merchandise.  He had survived the storms and had done well enough to own his home free and clear.

1900 United States census, Madison Village, Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota, population schedule, enumeration district 130, sheet no. 12. Available from Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.

Thorkel died in Madison on 10 July 1908, and was buried on 13 July 1908 in Hayden City Cemetery, Madison, Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota.

References
Bring Warm Clothes: Grasshopper Plague, 1873-1877
Grasshopper Plagues, 1873-1877 
Looking Back at the Days of the Locust
Pillsbury's Best - A Tale of Faith & Grasshopper Chapel
A Plague of Locusts 
Rocky Mountain locust