What I know about Sophia Dorothea HELBERG

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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".

What I know about Wealthy Susan CHANDLER

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.

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.

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!

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. 

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.

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 Genealogy Happy Hour, "Cheers!" GG Grandma Susan! 

What I know about Friedrich (Frederick) FREYTAG

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. 

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.

Friedrich died on June 7, 1886 and is buried in the Bremer Cemetery in Henry Co. Ohio.

What I know about Millard STEPHENS

The basic facts:

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.

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. 

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

What I know about Mary Ann FRETTINGER

Just the facts, Mam, just the facts.

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.

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.

She is seated in the photo with her daughter Mary Ann Stimmel HERMAN and granddaughter Ida Herman REED and baby Herald REED.

What I know about Marguerite PIERRE

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.

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.

What I know about Grace Estelle Curtiss

This 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.

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.
 I wish I had photos of all my ancestors. It would make this project so much more fun!