Having More Fun With Genealogy–

If I were to give a beginning genealogist a suggestion, it would be “find a genealogy cousin.” That is, someone with whom you connect, share a possible common ancestor, and with whom you can have fun. In my case, I’ve been fortunate to have such a person, Dee Lindaman, whom I first met about fifteen years ago when she was the librarian at Wellsburg, Iowa. I had gone to research my Ostfriesen line and use the Ortsippenbucher (OSBs), a type of community lineage book.

Through the years Dee and I have discovered we do indeed share a common ancestor and are “at least” seventh cousins. (Ironically, I am also a third cousin once removed to her husband.)

Several times a year, Dee and I get together for a “Grundy County” excursion. And it doesn’t take much to justify an excuse, er, solid reason … Over the years we have done a variety of activities:

*sorted books and helped catalog them for the Ostfriesen Heritage Collection

*visited museums and historical sites in Grundy County

*repaired family tombstones

*speculated if a particularly prominent stone may have been used as a hiding place for homemade liquor during the ear of Prohibition

*hosted two German families who have a keen interest in genealogy

*traced the history of two families that have tombstones in remote areas (there are still some mysteries accompanying this one!)

*solved a few of our own genealogy puzzles, involving half-siblings, reluctant relatives, correspondence with family connections “across the pond”

*found an entry in an abstract book proving my great-grandfather actually lived in Grundy County

*made an ancestral trip to Germany which can only be described as the trip of a lifetime

*and, most importantly, ALWAYS having lunch and sampling the many fine eateries in Grundy, Hardin, and Butler Counties. It’s usually during lunch we swapped tales of our research and some of the humorous encounters we’ve had along the way.

Thanks, Dee, for being such a wonderful “genealogy buddy.”

Caroline Nipp and William Naescher

Photograph of Caroline Nipp (my great-grandmother) and William Naescher.

This photo was recently sent to me by a third cousin.  Caroline Nipp was my great-grandmother and is pictured here with her first husband, William Naescher.  After his death she married John Schaefers.  She passed away shortly after giving birth to my grandfather and this is the first photo I have ever seen of her.  And a particular gift is that it arrived on the 53rd anniversary of the death of my grandfather!  An amazing genealogy gift!

Caroline and William were married in 1879 in Guttenburg, Iowa.  This may be a wedding portrait.  I wonder what photo William is holding!

Almost Gave Up…

Through the years of dong genealogy research, one of my frustrations has been trying, without success, to find the parents of my third great-grandmother, Susanna Resch.  She was born 10 Dec 1796 in Bour, Luxembourg, and married Nicholas Ernster.  Both of them are buried at Luxembourg, Iowa.  Susanna died in 10 October, 1870.

Every search I tried turned up nothing but a dead end.  Iowa did not begin official registration of deaths until 1880 and I could not find an obituary for her.  So I gave it a rest and concentrated my efforts elsewhere.

Then while browsing her name on Ancestry.com, I noticed one researcher had the names of her parents recorded as Frederic Risch and Catharine Bour!    Wow, maybe my first break in the case.  I sent an email to the “owner” of the submitted family tree, but he had no other information.  BUT, I noticed one of the submissions to the site had the marriage date of Nicolas and Susanna as 13 July 1818 in Waldbrediums, Luxembourg.  So, being somewhat logical, I borrowed the LDS film # 0425133 from the FamilySearch library.

Almost at the end of the film I found this record:

The writing is a challenge to read but I can tell it is the marriage record for Susanna Risch and Nicholas Ernster!  His parents are given as Joannes Ernster and A. Marie Delfeld (which corresponds with what I had earlier), and her parents are identified as Frederic Risch and Catherine Bour!  Hurray!  My early searching had Susanna’s surname as Resch but this version has it as Risch.

It doesn’t take much to make this genealogist happy!

Now I can’t help but ponder who the parents were of Frederic and Catherine!  But that’s a search (challenge, problem) for another time.  Right now I am just elated to have found this record.

A Change of Pace

In our retirement, my husband and I have decided to downsize a bit and simplify our life. We think the home pictured above will allow us to do just that!

Actually,  this is a photo I took of the Biltmore Mansion in Asheville, NC during a recent visit.  The house is truly magnificent, but not if you want to simplify your life!  Jim and I were on a two-week trip through the southeastern part of the United States and did find the experience of traveling and sight-seeing very relaxing.  The trip went almost flawlessly thanks to the Jim’ superb planning.   I did most of the driving and was only honked at twice for doing something stupid.  (One irate driver did pass me and attempt to slam on his car brakes, but fortunately I anticipated his action and did not rear-end him.)

However, I did have one near-panic moment when my cell phone could not “establish service.”  Certain that I had paid the latest bill, it was reassuring to check my account online (using a computer) to see that was indeed the case.  Further checking on my cell phone revealed I’d selected “airplane mode” accidentally.  Whoo!  Heart failure averted.

The cell phones were helpful for phone calls to stay in touch with family and friends, but in addition, came to our rescue when our camera batteries died and also with the navigation app when we were lost.  Without the latter, I might still be driving aimlessly in Chattanooga or Asheville!

Among other sites we toured were the USS North Carolina, a Civil War museum, an Appalachian museum, a coal-mining museum, and Oak Ridge, TN.  We also visited a niece and her husband, took in part of a great-nephew’s Lacrosse game, sampled excellent cuisine, and touched base with friends in Indiana.

And the trip served another purpose: I took a much-needed break from doing anything remotely related to genealogy.   My genealogy thought process definitely needed a little R and R and to that end, this trip was definitely a success.  I came back refreshed and ready to undertake more genealogy research and tackle several long-term projects.

During our trip, we had our mail held at the post office and then delivered on the day we arrived home.  Now I have a great idea to save time:  going through two weeks’ worth of accumulated mail did not take nearly as much time as dealing with it on a daily basis.  So my time-saving idea would be just to look at mail on a two-week basis … it’s definitely easier to toss the junk stuff!  The one drawback is that important material might be overlooked.  Then the next time my cell phone cannot “establish service” the reason could be an unpaid bill.  On further thought, maybe this isn’t a workable idea after all!

So Well Remembered

One of the highlights of our German trip (September 2011) was meeting family relatives for the first time. In Rommerskirchen, we were honored guests in the home of Anna and Herbert Schwenke. Although we spoke with the aid of translators, their warmth and hospitality came through. Their outpouring of hospitality made us feel very welcome.

Recently we were informed of the sudden death of Herbert Schwenke (1936-2013). It was sad day for us, but we also remembered his gentle manner and kindness.  May he rest in peace.

Herbert Schwenke

Anna and Herbert Schwenke

Guests in the Schwenke home.

Undated Lohr Photo

In this photo are Regina (Hoffman) Lohr (1882-1954) and Michael Lohr (1872-1946).

Photo is undated.  Some clues for estimating the date: the car is a Model A (manufactured 1928-1931), although the cars were still in use well past that time.  The car appears to have some “dings and dents” above the rear fender, so it’s probably not brand new.  Regina appears to be wearing silk stockings which likely would not have been available in World War II due to rationing.  Regina’s hat looks to me about late 1920 or early 1930s style.  I can’t get any clues from her fur coat.  Michael appears to quite tall and standing fairly straight.

My “guesstimate” is the photo dates between 1932-1938.

Does anyone else have any clues or suggestions?

In Memory of Julitta Schaefers Schwans

My mother Julitta Anns Schaefers was born 95 years ago today.  Two brothers, Cletus and Nicholas, would soon follow.  I think they were all born within a 35 month span.  What a busy household that had to have been!

My mother was named after her father’s sister who had become a nun and taken the name Julitta.  Throughout life she was called Julie, and I doubt very many people knew her full name.

The highlight of my mom’s life growing up was a visit to Mexico to visit another aunt, Elizabeth (Lizzie) Naescher.  At the age of 15, she rode the train by herself to Mexico.  She told us of a man who kept asking her repeatedly if she was on the right train and he could “help” her find the right one.  Fortunately, my mother had enough sense to be wary of him and reported him to the conductor.  After that, she never saw him again.

When we were helping with housework as we were growing up, we would often ask my mother to “tell us about your trip to Mexico.”   She often replied of the royal treatment she had from her aunt and how she was the guest at many parties and had a wonderful social life.  Great-aunt Lizzie was a nurse for a mining company and apparently enjoyed a good salary.

The one thing missing from my mom’s life was the joy of having a sister.  I think she never quite understood how close my two sisters and I are and the bond we share.

My sisters and I cannot remember my mother ever being interested in gossip or repeating it.  And swearing and cuss words were things that did not please her.  She would tell us that having to use profanity was a sign of a limited vocabulary!

My mother married my dad, A. W. (Tom) Schwans in 1939.  Theirs was referred to as a “mixed marriage” as my mom was Catholic and my dad Presbyterian.  (My dad later converted to Catholicism after my birth.  I always joked I’d been a Catholic longer than he had been.)  Since my mom was working in a W.P.A. office then, they did not announce their marriage (nor live together) for their first year of married life.  Eventually word did get out about the marriage and it was announced in the newspapers as “Coming as a surprise, was the announcement of the marriage of Julitta Schaefers and Tom Schwans.  The bride was honored at a wedding shower …”

Some years later when my husband and I were engaged, another great-aunt advised me about not getting any ideas for a secret wedding!  She was somewhat relieved when I told her Jim and I had no plans to do so.

My mother was meticulous in her appearance and looked stunning in a purple dress at our wedding.  When she went shopping for the dress, she did not tell the sales associates she was looking for a mother of the bride dress.  She said, “They’ll insist I buy something not at all suitable for me.  I don’t want that stereotype of dress.”

If my mother had one bad habit, it was that she was a cigarette smoker.  She tried many times to quit and perhaps if some of the more modern aides had been available then, she may have been successful.  But the years of smoking had taken e a toll on her health and she developed severe emphysema which contributed to her death just three weeks shy of her 73rd birthday.

We still miss her, but are so grateful for all the years she was with us and what she taught us.