tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28541839230351024592024-03-13T14:19:34.159-04:00Branches and Limbs Genealogy and ancestry search, stories and information for the many branches and limbs in my family. Covering many family names including Burke, Stevens, Herman, Schwiebert, Freytag, Chandler, Florentz and more in West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, France, Germany and England.Pbonawitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01869797958444031036noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854183923035102459.post-41576190744918266342016-04-02T06:00:00.000-04:002016-04-02T06:00:18.535-04:00What I know about Daniel BONAWITZYes, yes I have missed a few weeks of posting but I am back and ready to get crackin' on some genealogy research. Next up is one of my husband's family ancestors, Daniel Bonewitz. Now there are more than one Daniel Bonewitz in the PA area during the time I was researching and had to be very careful not to mix the two up. All of you family historians know how easy that is to do. Here goes...<br />
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According to Find A Grave, The Book of Bonawitz by Oby Bonawitz, and his obituary, Daniel Bonewitz was born on December 23rd 1838 and died on September 5, 1900.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">The Scranton Republican, Thursday September 6, 1900</span></div>
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Daniel and his two brothers William and Jacob all served in the Union Army during the Civil War.</div>
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Daniel was enlisted as Corporal in the 53rd Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. </div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background-color: #f0eee9; color: #36322d; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 23.2px; text-align: start;">Pennsylvania, Veterans Burial Cards, 1777-1999 </span><span style="background-color: #f0eee9; color: #36322d; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 23.2px;">Ancestry.com </span><span style="background-color: #f0eee9; color: #36322d; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 23.2px;">Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.Original data - Pennsylvania Veterans Burial Cards, 1929–1990. Digital Images, 3–5. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Bureau of Archives and History. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania</span></span></div>
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Daniel married Helenah Jacoby sometime around 1866ish (not very professional in the dating here). I am referencing the 1870 Census and children's birth dates which seem to start about 1867. They had seven children between the years of 1867 and 1883</div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background-color: #f0eee9; color: #36322d; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 23.2px;">Birth date: abt 1839 Birth place: Pennsylvania Residence date: 1870 Residence place: Newport, Luzerne, Pennsylvania, United States</span><span style="background-color: #f0eee9; color: #36322d; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 23.2px; text-align: start;">1870 United States Federal Census Ancestry.com, </span><span style="background-color: #f0eee9; color: #36322d; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 23.2px;">Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.Original data - 1870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Record</span></span></div>
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During his lifetime he was a laborer, a hostler and a watchman. He is buried at Hanover Cemetery, Hanover Green, Luzerne Co. PA Although his name is spelled Bonewitz, some of his children spelled their last name Bonawitz. </div>
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Pbonawitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01869797958444031036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854183923035102459.post-77832154937867643802016-03-12T06:00:00.000-05:002016-03-12T06:00:07.085-05:00What I know about Sarah Catherine HAROLD<br />
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Sarah Catherine Herold is my second great grandmother on my mother's father's side of the family. She was born on June 22, 1854 in Kanawha County Virginia, which is now WV. She was the third child of Dabney (sometimes referred to as Daniel) Herold and Nancy Griffith. There is also the question about the spelling of the last name. Could it be Herald? I have not seen it this way on any document but then again I do not have a document written by Sarah herself.<br />
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According to the 1900 census she married Joseph Leftwich Chandler in 1874. They were married for at least 44 years as both died after 1930 and before 1940. They had eight children together between 1875 and 1892. One being Dabney Chandler named after Sarah's father and another being my great grandmother, mentioned before, Wealthy Susan Chandler.<br />
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According to the census records the family lived in Kanawha Co. WV, Colcord to be specific, until 1900 where they moved to Scott, Boone Co. WV and then back to Kanawha Co. in 1910 to the town of Washington and finally ending up in Gripp Mountain in 1920.The couple spent their final years living with their son Dabney and his wife Bessie in Washington WV.Pbonawitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01869797958444031036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854183923035102459.post-57220276995824660422016-03-05T06:00:00.000-05:002016-03-05T06:00:06.867-05:00What I know about Anson PRESTONThis post should be titled what I <i><u>think</u></i> I know about Anson Preston. It has been hard to find documents other than the census to prove the facts in my fourth great grandfathers life. So lets go over what I do actually know from the census forms.<br />
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Lets start in the 1850 census. Here we find Anson and his wife Stella (Estella Wheeler) and their 6 children including my third great grandmother Adeline, love that name, and it looks like a twin sister Angelina (it doesn't look like she makes it to the 1860's), living in Herman, St. Lawrence, New York. Anson is listed as a laborer age 49 and his wife is 31. He was born in NY and she in NH and it looks like they did not own property.<br />
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Moving backwards I can find Anson in the 1840's still in Hermon, St. Lawrence, New York and looking at the tick marks and comparing them with what I know from the 1850 census I can see some discrepancies. There is one tick mark for male under 5 and that would be Alvah, one for male 30-39 and that would be Anson, one for female 20-29 - Stella. Now there are two marks for female under 5 and one would be Mary but the other does not match up to the 1850 census so it could be a child that died. There is also a mystery male child age 10-14 that is not listed in the 1850 and that could be by that time he has moved out and on with his own life or died.<br />
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From here I back tracked one more decade and there is an Anson Preston married with one child inthe 1830 census in DeKalb, St. Lawrence, NY. This information matches up with Anson, Stella and unnamed older son. However in this census both adult male and female are between the ages of 20 and 29. This doesn't match up for Stella who from all other census records is about 20 years younger. I am thinking they lied, gasp!<br />
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Ok, lets jump forward a bit to 1860. They have now moved their family from New York to Ohio. The town of Findlay in Hancock County to be exact. Here Anson is 60 and Stella is 42. He does not have a profession listed and the value of his estate is $50.<br />
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I have to pause here a minute and look at Stella. She would have been born around 1818 according to this census. Her first child was born about 1836 and she would have been about 18 which is totally plausible. However, somewhere out there in cloud genealogy her marriage to Anson is listed as being held in 1830 which would make her 11. If that is true why did it take them 6 years to have their first child? Just seems odd and I cannot find a marriage certificate as of yet. I am thinking it might be more like they got married when she was 16 or 17 and then had Alvah when she was 18. Anywho, it requires more research.<br />
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In 1870 and 1880 they are still in Findlay, Ohio. Stella dies in 1885 and Anson dies in 1991. What I do not know is who his parents are. Again it is floating around that his father is Jacob Preston, born in CT and died in NY but again proof is lacking. If you are related to Anson and have some proof on his parentage I would be super ecstatic if you would share. I really hope he is the son of Jacob Preston as that would lead me back to Ann Alcock who was tried as a witch back in Salem and died in prison waiting trial.Pbonawitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01869797958444031036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854183923035102459.post-28812692043286199342016-02-20T06:00:00.000-05:002016-02-20T06:00:04.694-05:00What I know about Meinrad FLORENTZ<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Meinrad Florentz was a weaver from Ribeauville, France and he was my great, great grandfather. I wonder if that is why my aunt is such a prolific knitter? Is it in the DNA? I have to say there is something about a yarn shop that just draws me in. All the colors and textures. </div>
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Let's get back to the man himself. Meinrad was born on 23 Nov 1850 in Ribeauville, France but by 1872 he was living in the town of Saint Marie Aux Mines, France. On July 8 of that same year he married Maria Josephina Stockey at 10 am. She was a Lutheran and he was a Catholic. Maria's parents were Joseph Stockey and Marie Josephine Kruemort. Joseph was also a weaver and that might have been how Meinrad met his wife if he worked in the same place as Joseph.</div>
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I do not know how many children they had together for sure but one was my great grandfather Paul who later immigrated to the United States and lived in West Virginia with his wife Marguerite Pierre Florentz. Meinrad's wife Maria died on 24 July 1888. He went on to live another 46 years and died at the age of 84. I do not know as of yet if he remarried.</div>
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Pbonawitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01869797958444031036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854183923035102459.post-10313076319502435632016-02-13T06:00:00.000-05:002016-02-13T06:00:16.839-05:00What I know about Sophia Dorothea HELBERG<br />
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I cannot imagine what it would have been like for a small child of 3 to travel across the ocean to her new home on a twelve week journey. I wonder if she even remembered the trip at all being so young. But journey she did with her parents Cordt Heinrich Helberg and Maria Ann Bruggeman Helberg and her siblings. The story goes that after arriving in America they journeyed by canal west across NY and settled in Napoleon, Ohio.<br />
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Her younger sister Maria died on the journey and her father arranged for a burial at the new location in Napoleon. He also helped to found a new congregation, Zion Lutheran Church with the help of Dietrich Badenhop. A group including Mr. Helberg from this congregation helped to form what is today St. Paul's Lutheran Church.<br />
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Sophia met and married William A. Freytag on 17 Nov. 1865. The Freytag family moved into the area a few years after the Helbergs. The couple had 10 children.</div>
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Sophia lived in Napoleon, Ohio her entire life. She would be remembered in later life as having a good sense of humor and sitting in her rocker reading her bible.</div>
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Her husband William died on 18 Dec. 1921 at the age of 83 and she would pass on 16 March 1936 at the age of 90. </div>
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I am very lucky to have a copy of Focus on the Freytags by William H Freytag 1978 which are his memories of this family and have helped in giving me clues on where to find documents for the vital records of its members. If only everyone wrote down their memories of their grandparents and great grandparents we would have a glimpse into what their life must have been like "back in the day".</div>
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<br />Pbonawitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01869797958444031036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854183923035102459.post-32527220498110351092016-02-07T06:00:00.000-05:002016-02-07T14:05:13.806-05:00What I know about Wealthy Susan CHANDLER<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I find it so interesting that my great great grandparents would name one of their children Wealthy. Were they hoping for the best for this baby or their family? If so, that didn't work out.<br />
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My grandmother went by her middle name, Susan. She was born, according to her birth record, on Aug 13, 1877. However, her death certificate states her birthday as July 24, 1877. I have to go with the birth record.<br />
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Most of the trees out there have her listed as Susan Chandler and I was determined to prove her name was Wealthy. Her birth record only says W. S. Chandler but I found a delayed Birth Certificate for one of her children, Herman Stevens, with her name "Wealthy Susan Chandler" BAM! That was one of those moments where I jumped up and down!</div>
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She married my great grandfather, Millard Stephens (the name spelling changed to Stevens somewhere between Millard and my Grandfather Steward and was spelled Stephenson on the record) on October 18, 1898. They had 10 children in their 41 years of marriage. Millard died on September 4, 1939. </div>
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At age 65, five years after her husbands death, she marries Marian Edward Kidd. Now the funny thing here is she marries him again two years later in 1946. There is a story where she takes to her bed at a daughters home for a long period of time after the first marriage but that is just a story. I have not found a divorce record to date but who knows, it may be out there somewhere.</div>
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It was not a glamours life for Wealthy Susan Chandler Stevens Kidd but she lived to a ripe old age of 92. I can only imagine the things she saw change during her lifetime and the things she had to endure. I would have been eight years old at the time of her death. I never met her and even if I did I would probably not remember which makes me a little sad. As we would say at <a href="http://genealogyhappyhour.com/" target="_blank">Genealogy Happy Hour</a>, "Cheers!" GG Grandma Susan! </div>
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<br />Pbonawitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01869797958444031036noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854183923035102459.post-47927332280014988802016-01-31T06:00:00.000-05:002016-01-31T06:00:06.725-05:00What I know about Friedrich (Frederick) FREYTAG<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Friedrich (Frederick) Freytag is my 5th Great Grandfather. He immigrated to the United States, Ohio specifically, from his home in Stellichte, Germany with his wife Sophia Arps Freytag and their seven children. They came over on the Bremen Bark Ella ship and their name on the log is spelled "FREITAG". Two weeks after arriving Sophia died and left with the children ranging in ages from one to fourteen. </div>
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A few years later Friedrich acquired 80 acres of homestead land in Henry County Ohio. The document is signed by President Millard Filmore. The family must have done well as all the kids grew to adulthood. One son, Henry, served in the Civil War and died in prison in 1864.</div>
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Friedrich died on June 7, 1886 and is buried in the Bremer Cemetery in Henry Co. Ohio.</div>
<br />Pbonawitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01869797958444031036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854183923035102459.post-15905040012645393342016-01-24T06:00:00.000-05:002016-01-24T06:00:00.505-05:00What I know about Millard STEPHENS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
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Millard Stephens was the youngest child born to Thomas J. Stephens and Mary Elizabeth "Polly" Adkins. He was probably born in 1871 according to the census records. It was hard to track him down as there were two Millard Stephens born that same year in West Virginia. Neither of which had a birth certificate. After some digging I located documents associated with his siblings that helped prove the correct Millard.</div>
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At age 27 he married Wealthy Susan Chandler, daughter of Joseph Leftwich Chandler and Sarah Catherine Herald. They married 15 Oct. 1898 in Boone Co. West Virginia. The couple had 10 children two of which were twins, Carly and Carter. </div>
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The family moved to Kanawha County WV sometime in the early 1900's and lived in Alum Creek where he worked as a farmer. Some time between 1920 and 1930 they moved to Washington, WV where he took a job as a track foreman for a coal company. The must have moved again as he died in his Forks of Coal home on 25 September 1939 at age 68</div>
<br />Pbonawitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01869797958444031036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854183923035102459.post-49798516206788282892016-01-17T06:00:00.000-05:002016-01-17T13:41:41.827-05:00What I know about Mary Ann FRETTINGERJust the facts, Mam, just the facts.<br />
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Mary Ann FRETTINGER is my 3rd great Grandmother. She was born in Ohio in 1842, married in 1860, had eight children and died in 1926.<br />
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I really don't know much else about her life except where she lived according to the census but I do know she was very loved and respected by her family and friends. Her obituary was very long and full of love with letters at the end.<br />
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She is seated in the photo with her daughter Mary Ann Stimmel HERMAN and granddaughter Ida Herman REED and baby Herald REED.Pbonawitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01869797958444031036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854183923035102459.post-14671409741600998282016-01-10T08:00:00.000-05:002016-01-10T08:00:19.851-05:00What I know about Marguerite PIERRE<br />
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It was not easy for Marguerite to move from her home town in Saint Marie Aux Mines, France to the small town of Colcord, West Virginia. She did not know the language nor did she have any friends there. She was thirty years of age in 1923 with four small children when she boarded the Reliance in Cherbourg, France.Two years after arriving she gave birth to her fifth child and the first one to be born in America. Another child arrived the next year. I am sure she missed her mother and other family members that were still in back in her home town.<br />
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Marguerite never returned to her homeland nor did her husband Paul. There were letters I am sure of family news and happenings. Reports of deaths and births and wishes of being together once again. Marguerite had to endure the death of her husband in 1942 leaving her alone in Sherman WV. She did not outlive her husband long and passed from this earth on 28 April 1951 and is buried next to him in the Mordue Cemetery in Whitesville, WV.<br />
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<br />Pbonawitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01869797958444031036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854183923035102459.post-32509129604200912602016-01-02T20:33:00.002-05:002016-01-02T20:33:37.471-05:00What I know about Grace Estelle CurtissThis year I am going to concentrate on an Ancestor a week. Something like the 52 Ancestor challenge but with a twist. I also want to learn more and get back into my digital scrapbooking so I will combine the two. First I will make a digital scrapbook page with my Artisan 5 program by Panstoria, which I love, and a template from Pixels2Pages (thanks!) then I will post it here and blog a little bit about it. I will focus mainly on the vital facts of the person, birth, marriage, death. Then if I know a little something extra I can put that in as well.<br />
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The first ancestor is Grace Estelle Curtiss. Yes, it is Curtiss with two "s". Not sure when that came about as some of her ancestors spelled it with only one "s". The information printed is from her death certificate and two marriage certificates. I wonder how she felt after her first husband died and she was only 24 with two small children. From the census it looks like her new family as well as her brother Charles, moved to Michigan. Her mother moved soon after and lived with Charles and his family. She died a few years before Grace.<br />
I wish I had photos of all my ancestors. It would make this project so much more fun!Pbonawitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01869797958444031036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854183923035102459.post-24837737378504223912015-06-18T16:34:00.001-04:002015-06-18T16:34:17.484-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
The Curtis(s) Family</div>
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I have been busy this past month working on my lineage application to the Ohio Genealogy Society. I have an ancestor Harvey Andrew Curtis who fits all the requirements for the Settler and Builder Application. I must say I have been having a blast doing the research in locating documents to prove events. On our podcast <a href="http://www.genealogyhappyhour.com/" target="_blank">Genealogy Happy Hour,</a> Amy and I challenged each other to fill out an application after we did an episode on Lineage Societies. Off I went!<br />
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While doing the research I noticed that there are different spellings of the last name through the generations. Let's take his son Enos for example. Enos is listed on the death certificate as Enos Curtis with one "s" but the tombstone had Curtiss, two s's. Who made that decision and why? Now from what I can see all of Enos children spell their name Curtiss. So somewhere it seems they added one.<br />
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I also learned how wonderful librarians in Ohio are and most of the county court clerks as well. I have found marriage records that no one has seen before in church registers. And let me just say thank heavens most of my ancestors on this line died in Michigan and Michigan has all the death certificates on http://seekingmichigan.org/. If you have ancestors up there in the north country you should check it out. After all this researching and meticulous documenting I am very ready to do another one. The hunt is on!Pbonawitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01869797958444031036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854183923035102459.post-1996415844097010102015-05-23T09:44:00.000-04:002015-05-23T09:44:14.362-04:00Two Mysteries SolvedI have been busy working on my lineage society application after my podcast partner Amy Lay challenged me, and I her, to fill one out before our <a href="http://www.genealogyhappyhour.com/" target="_blank">Podcast</a> on lineage societies and pioneer applications. Mine is coming along really well thanks to some fantastic online tools such as <a href="http://seekingmichigan.org/" target="_blank">Seeking Michigan</a> where I found many death certificates and <a href="https://familysearch.org/" target="_blank">Family Search</a> where I found the documents to solve my mystery, with a bit of help from a very helpful librarian.<br />
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I was sending of requests to the Findlay-Hancock County Public Library in Findlay, Ohio for some obituaries I needed to help prove death dates and relationships. The line I was working on was the Burks who married into the Curtis(s) family.<br />
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My biggest brick wall is John J. Burke who married Ellen P. Hill. Still my biggest brick wall, no mystery solved there yet but I have hope. However, John and Ellen had three sons. Elroy who died under age one, Calvin, my 2nd Great Grandfather and William. Now John and Ellen both died young. Ellen in 1871 and John a year later in 1872 leaving two young boys, Calvin and William in the guardianship of the their uncle Edward Chapman Hill. I had found the guardianship papers online at Family Search but no mention of what happened to the boys as they are not with Uncle Edward in the 1880 census.<br />
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After requesting an obit from the library for Calvin I received an email from the librarian in the genealogy department telling me the obit was on its way and included a link to Family Search for the guardianship papers. Well I thought I already had that but clicked on it anyway and low and behold it was a different set of paper. This set was dated 1874 but found in the 1865-1869 records where I did not bother to look as the dates didn't match up. This record was Edward Hill signing Calvin over to William P. Shuck as a farm apprentice at the age of 8. We was bound there until 1887, thirteen years. I had previously found Calvin in the 1880 census as a farm laborer in this household but had no idea how or why he ended up there and not with his mothers family per the guardianship papers. So that was on mystery solved but what happened to William?<br />
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My next thought was that William being the younger brother was too young to apprentice but not to young for adoption. With a bit more sleuthing through the records I landed upon William Henry Burk's adoption to William and Caroline Ramsay. BINGO! From there I found him in the 1880 census but then he was gone. My next thought was a date my grandmother gave me for William's death. She had written down 1887, the same year Calvin was finished with his apprenticeship (and he got married that year too). But how would she know that if he was adopted so long ago and this was not even her family but her husbands. Why not check? Sure enough I found his grave on <a href="http://www.findagrave.com/" target="_blank">Find A Grave</a> stating he died in 1887 at the age of 18. The headstone states he was born in 1870 but all the other papers I have have his birth date of 1869, not sure why that was different. But YAHOO! Nailed it! Found him! DONE with that mystery.<br />
So I am ever hopeful I will eventually find out something about his fathers parents, the elusive Burks.<br />
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<br />Pbonawitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01869797958444031036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854183923035102459.post-1378451057087714942015-04-23T12:31:00.001-04:002015-04-23T12:57:49.528-04:00Podcasting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have been busy these last few months recording a podcast with my friend Amy Lay, a professional genealogist, to help out those new family historians just getting started. We have had a blast learning how to do a podcast and actually getting it out there. Episodes 4 and 5, our latest efforts, are the best ones yet. They cover census records and cemetery research. The first ones are full of great information on pedigree charts and research logs then birth, marriage and death records. Not as casual as the last but like good wine we get better with time.<br />
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Speaking of wine, we call our podcast the <a href="http://www.genealogyhappyhour.com/" target="_blank">Genealogy Happy Hour </a> and include a bottle of wine each episode. The last one on cemeteries was a bottle of Cabernet, see how the red wine fits into the cemetery research, and it has a beautiful stone angel on the label that looks like it could be on a headstone. It is Montes Alpha Cabernet. I should also say we are no wine experts by any stretch of the imagination. We just like it and like the labels. We also do not approve of drinking and researching. Drink afterwards because you will probably need it.<br />
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Check us out at http://www.genealogyhappyhour.com/Pbonawitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01869797958444031036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854183923035102459.post-63780260888324510442015-03-27T18:03:00.001-04:002015-03-27T18:03:52.951-04:00Family ReunionsThis summer I will be heading out west with my husband for the Schwiebert Family Reunion. This event happens every five years and alternates between Kirchwalsede Germany and somewhere in the US usually some spot in north western Ohio. Not this year. No sir! We are headin' for Pasadena, CA.<br />
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Schwieberts from all over the world attend the reunions and it is so interesting to meet new cousins and catch up with old cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. My direct line is through my grandmother Lydia Schwiebert Burke. Her parents, Fred and Emma (Freytag) Schwiebert lived in Deshler, OH.<br />
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Both of their parents immigrated to Ohio from Germany and both were born in Ohio. They had 12 children all but one reaching adulthood. I have two children and cannot possibly imagine having 12 are you kidding?<br />
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While attending the reunion in 2010 in <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Kirchwalsede,+Germany/@53.0281034,9.4250038,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x47b101e807cdbae5:0x426cf77630053f0" target="_blank">Kirchwalsede Germany</a> we stayed at the fabulous Green Hunter Hotel or <a href="http://www.zumgruenenjaeger.de/" target="_blank">Zum Grünen Jäger</a> which was very close to the lovely church my Schwiebert ancestors built St. Bartholomew. We got a nice coffee mug with a painting of the church on it as a souvenir.<br />
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<br />Pbonawitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01869797958444031036noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854183923035102459.post-41371232299937133792015-02-22T15:08:00.001-05:002015-02-22T17:12:39.157-05:00Church Record Sunday - Where do you belong?Last week I headed out to Salt Lake City with my partner in genealogy crime and attended the Roots Tech conference. What a great experience. I learned quite a bit at the tech classes and got to spend two full days at the Family History Library researching my family. Last year we attended the National Genealogy Society conference and I have to say, if you have not attended a genealogy conference of any kind, get out there and sign up for one.<br />
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One of the things I was researching in the library was church records. I did not find anything that would actually help my search but just learning about the churches in the area where my ancestors lived was fascinating. After returning home I continued filing my records in my binder and happened upon my grandmothers Certificate of Membership to the Presbyterian Church of Ameagle in West Virginia.<br />
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This document answers questions and creates more, don't they all?. I learned that my grandmother joined on the 6th of April in the year 1947 but I don't know how active she was at church. I saw that it was only her name on the certificate so I wondered if my grandfather joined also and had his own certificate or if she joined alone, which is what I suspected. I have the name of the church and I have the name of the Pastor but not the location of the church.<br />
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Now talking to my mother, and yes I am lucky I have someone who might have the answers I seek, I found that my Grandmother joined alone and became quite active in the church. I also learned that the church was located beside the Dr. office and across the street from the company store which had a soda fountain in the basement. This was a coal mining town and they had company stores for the workers and their families. I also learned that my grandmother was a member of two women's groups at this church. The Willing Workers and the Missionary Society. One or both of these groups had a Hat Party once a year. Looks like they had a good time at these hat parties!<br />
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<br />Pbonawitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01869797958444031036noreply@blogger.com0Ameagle, WV 25048, USA37.9498312 -81.41871979999996312.427796699999998 -122.72731379999996 63.471865699999995 -40.110125799999963tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854183923035102459.post-56151428423070788252015-01-22T14:45:00.000-05:002015-01-22T14:45:57.086-05:00Genealogy Do Over Week ThreeThis is the week where we take the information from "the Interview" and start the research. I am very excited to do it right from the beginning this time and get all the citations in my log. My next step is starting over with my My Heritage family tree. There are lots of names in there that are not proven and I just want to start it from scratch and this is my big chance.<br />
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How hard is it to delete people in your tree? SUPER HARD! I look at one and think "oh I should keep him I know everything is true" UGH! It is really hard to be disciplined about starting over. I have everyone on a tree in Ancestry so what is my problem in deleting them in My Heritage? I am sure you all understand and sympathize with me, thank you.<br />
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I will end this post and head right over to Deleteville and begin ancestor removal. Wish me luck!Pbonawitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01869797958444031036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854183923035102459.post-24623735070722912972015-01-03T11:09:00.001-05:002015-01-03T11:09:32.745-05:00Do Over or Go Over, make the commitment!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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When I first saw this on Dear Myrtle's Google+ post I was all in! I quickly went to Thomas MacEntee's page to read all about it. <a href="http://www.geneabloggers.com/announcing-genealogy-doover/" target="_blank">The Genealogy Do Over</a><br />
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Then I had to sit back and think about it. How much work was this going to be for me (who in all honesty can let things slide). So I read a little further and it really made sense to me. I have quite a few ancestors in my tree that may or may not be related. This exercise might get all this back on track, organized and proved.<br />
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Then I saw the option of the Go Over, yes! Easy way out. I had to ask myself if this was going to be my answer once again. Take the less challenging road. No, this is going to the be the year for really getting out of the "easy road" rut and do things fully, all the way, no ifs ands or buts! I am all in for the Genealogy Do Over. And darn if it didn't start yesterday.Pbonawitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01869797958444031036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854183923035102459.post-7226621588200383172014-11-08T16:58:00.001-05:002014-11-08T16:58:41.087-05:00Learn a Little, Learn a LotMy paternal grandparents DeWayne and Lydia Burke were both teachers and my mother was a teacher and they all taught me that you never stop learning. I have been trying to add more knowledge to the old brain these days by listening to some fantastic podcasts. I love this way of learning. I just turn one on while I am driving or cleaning and BAM! learn something. To be honest, I don't do a lot of cleaning if I can help it as I would rather be researching something so it's mostly while I am driving or playing solitaire.<br />
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My three favorite ones right now are <a href="http://lisalouisecooke.com/podcasts/" target="_blank">Lisa Luise Cooke's Genealogy Gems Podcast</a>, <a href="http://www.familytreemagazine.com/Info/Podcasts" target="_blank">Family Tree Podcast</a>, and <a href="http://www.thegenealogyprofessional.com/" target="_blank">The Genealogy Professional Podcast</a>. All three offer different perspectives and always something I didn't know and can use in my research. I know there are more out there and I have not tried them all but might one day. I would love to hear of other amazing podcasts that might be your favorites.<br />
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Here is a photo of my grandparents with my dad as a small child back in the late 1930's. My grandfather taught high school American history and my grandmother taught special education in Bellevue Ohio.Pbonawitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01869797958444031036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854183923035102459.post-32546938907611446812014-09-18T14:53:00.002-04:002014-09-18T14:53:47.895-04:00Weddings in the past and a wedding in the futureMy beautiful daughter will be getting married to an amazing young man next month and with all the wedding hoopla going on I have been pushing my genealogy research to the side. I did manage today to add more documents to the binder and log so at least some progress is happening.<br />
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Back to the wedding. While thinking about the upcoming nuptials I thought I might post some photos from our family with newlyweds from the past. Now I do not know who these two couples are but they are from somewhere on my fathers side of the family. This means a bit more digging.<br />
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Pbonawitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01869797958444031036noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854183923035102459.post-91165393605457235292014-08-23T12:57:00.000-04:002014-08-23T12:57:33.153-04:00Sorting Saturday - the organization changes and continuesAs much as I loved my new excel organizing chart it was beginning to be to cumbersome. Two many ancestors which created too many pages since each one had their very own page. Now I am not an expert at excel by any stretch of the imagination but when I think excel should do something I find a way to learn to do it and I did. I made a new chart and I love it. I just hope I don't find anything better.<br />
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My original setup was the same page for each ancestor and it looked like this only bigger and with more pages:<br />
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My new form is all in one and is much easier to work with. I give each document a code with a letter and number and that is how it is filed in a binder and if it is in the computer that code is attached as well. This helps in not duplicating documents as it seems I have the same ones saved over and over again. Go figure. I did not print out the very first column which has names and spouses listed.<br />
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<br />Pbonawitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01869797958444031036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854183923035102459.post-15715253780629970582014-08-01T14:38:00.001-04:002014-08-01T17:19:36.540-04:00The more I find the less I knowMy number six ancestor to be filed neatly away in my new handy dandy organizational system is young Calvin's father John. John Burk is my brick wall, or should I say one of my brick walls. But really the one that causes me the most grief. It seems the more information I find on him the less I know or the more questions I have. There was a prompt on another blog asking who in history would you like to have dinner with and my answer was John Burk just to ask who his parents and grandparents were and where they came from so I could move on in this research.<br />
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John was born in Crawford, Ohio in 1833 when they did not keep birth records. I know this because his brother in law was kind enough to write a family history down with birth and death dates and his 2 times grand daughter was kind enough to share it with me. I also have a handwritten note with the same dates from someone in my grandfathers family. Sadly, these notes do not include his parents names.<br />
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John married Ellen Percey Hill from Jackson, Hancock, Ohio on April 4, 1863 and they had three boys, Calvin, William and Elroy (who died before his first birthday). The Burk family lived in Bath, Green Co., Ohio in 1870 and one year later Ellen died in Hancock Co. Ohio soon to be followed by John in 1872. The boys, Calvin and William were put under guardianship of their uncle, Ellen's brother Edward.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0b0W4o6rZLo/U9vccG7kPDI/AAAAAAAA2r8/yxBeMaSQ_0Q/s1600/EM1+Burke+Curtain+and+Map+fixtures+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0b0W4o6rZLo/U9vccG7kPDI/AAAAAAAA2r8/yxBeMaSQ_0Q/s1600/EM1+Burke+Curtain+and+Map+fixtures+(2).jpg" /></a>At one point in John's life he knew a man names JW Burns who transferred a patent over to John in 1870. This man lived in Medway, Ohio not far from Bath. Which raises questions of what did John do for a living? Did he work for this JW Burns? Were they related? Why did he get that patent and what was he going to do with it? As interesting as all this is it does not answer the question of who his parents are and where did they come from. The search continues!<br />
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<br />Pbonawitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01869797958444031036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854183923035102459.post-39135961549786306422014-07-29T16:42:00.001-04:002014-07-29T16:42:46.361-04:00Tombstone TuesdayMy files are slowing but surely getting in the binder and being checked off on the individuals list. The organization continues.<br />
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Total so far?<br />
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A big ol' FIVE! That's right, five. That's progress anyway. It is great to find some blogs on genealogy organization like <a href="http://organizeyourfamilyhistory.com/" target="_blank">Organize Your Family History</a> to get some ideas and insights.<br />
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My number five is my second great grandfather Calvin Burke. What a childhood he and his younger brother must have endured with his parents both dying when he was young and his guardian not around by the time he was fourteen. Calvin was born on August 23, 1866 to John and Ellen Burk (notice no "e" at the end) in Hancock, Co. Ohio. Finding that "e" will be another hunt altogether.<br />
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At the age of 4, he and his younger brother William are found with their parents in Bath, Ohio. It is here that a third brother, Elroy was born and soon after died. He and his family soon relocated back to Hancock County where his parents died a few months apart in 1871 and 1872. His mothers brother Edward Hill became their guardian in 1872 but by 1880 Calvin is found in a boarding home working on a farm in the area with no sign of his younger brother William.<br />
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Seven years later in 1887 Calvin married Grace Estelle Curtiss of Grafton, Ohio and they had two children, Hazel Edna Burke and Cecil Lynn Burke, my great grandfather. I am not sure how life was for this little family but in November of 1893 Calvin died of consumption ending his short life at age 27.<br />
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<br />Pbonawitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01869797958444031036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854183923035102459.post-19066840435807733102014-07-25T17:03:00.000-04:002014-07-25T17:03:44.523-04:00The Organization ChoreMost genealogists have a plethora of evidence lying about in their work space or just around the house, or all over the house. I can at least say mine is all over my computer in various files or in a big file box. I think I can find what I am looking for if I try but it will take some time.<br />
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So this month I am embarking on organizing my piles of evidence and connecting them with the correct person while learning some new computer and excel tricks. Wish me luck!<br />
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I have listened to three lectures on organization and can say that two have given me some great ideas on how to link up the computer data to my ancestors as well as all the paper proof I have stored in my files using an excel sheet. Will I accomplish this monumental task? That remains to be seen but I think if I plan on a few people a day and I don't procrastinate (like writing a blog post instead or organizing) I just might get it done.<br />
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Who knows what I may find while plowing through all the stuff I have saved on my computer. I might find the proof I need to connect Anson Preston with his father Jacob Preston or at least have a lead to go snooping further. Would that fall under procrastination?<br />
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<br />Pbonawitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01869797958444031036noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854183923035102459.post-87908745312627085572014-07-23T11:45:00.001-04:002014-07-23T11:46:07.143-04:00Wordless Wednesday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Handmade spinning wheel by my great grandfather Paul Florentz in WV. One of the many wood carved pieces he created.Pbonawitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01869797958444031036noreply@blogger.com2