My genealogy work slows down this time of year, even though many of my ancestors and family members are on my mind as we approach Christmas. The people I miss the most, of course, are my parents and brother. My brother only shared 20 Christmases with us before his premature death, but I have some wonderful memories. I especially remember the Christmases in Illinois. I remember, for example, the Christmas we both got sleds from Santa, the one where we learned to ice skate, and the Christmas Eve when my mother sent my father, brother and I out to look at Christmas lights while she stayed home "to hang up the laundry in the basement." When we arrived home, Santa had already left his stash, and my mother insisted she thought she "heard something" while she was down in the basement which caused her to rush up to find the source of the noise. When she arrived in the living room, she could see that Santa had arrived early. My mother never could wait for Christmas to arrive. She loved to find presents we had hidden, and was very adept at peeling the tape off the wrapping paper to peek and then reattaching it so we wouldn't know. We always knew, though.
After that, I figured out the secret about Santa Claus, and as soon as my brother caught on, my mother began the big celebration of Christmas on Christmas Eve. That's when we opened our presents and when my mother fixed the big meal of ham, scalloped potatoes, and various desserts. When I married and had children, she continued the tradition, and we brought our own children to my parents' house for Christmas Eve. When they were young, they had two Christmases: one on Christmas eve at Grandma's and one Christmas morning, when Santa came. As they got older, everything centered on Christmas Eve, until they ventured out and got married, when the tradition finally ended.
At this time of year, I also wonder what Christmas was like when my grandparents and great grandparents were young. Fortunately, I have some idea of what life was like when my great great grandparents, Ned and Mary Brennan, were raising their family in the late 1800s, from the writings of Father Robert Brennan, their grandson. He tells us what Christmas was like in the Brennan household, which he calls "Vinegar Hill." Vinegar Hill was the name of a great battle in Ireland, and my grandparents named their property after it.
"Christmas on Vinegar Hill was always a time for great merriment, but Grandmother was strict about the fast that goes before feasts - a habit she brought with her from Ireland. On Christmas Eve, therefore, there was only one full meal, taken when the family was assembled in the evening. Traditionally, it consisted of oyster stew and potato cakes, and the custom is still observed among some of the present-day members of the clan.
A Christmas candle burned all night in the window, another of the lovely customs that the Irish brought with them to America. The candle was made from tallow by Grandmother's sister, Julia... Springs of green, hung here and there about the house, gave a homey atmosphere to the Yuletide festivities.
On Christmas morning, the first Mass in St. Rose Church was at five. Grandmother always attended it along with some of the children. It is easy to picture her picking her steps through the snow drifts that covered Vinegar Hill; glancing up from time to time at the stars overhead that were singing for joy at he Birth of our Saviour. On returning home, the fire was built up and the good goose that was plucked and prepared the day before was set in the oven. All morning there was the fragrant odor of roasting fowl filling the house. This, like the fare of the night before, was alaso a traditional dish among the Brennans, served with mashed potatoes and thick gravy. Mince pie was the usual dessert, with nuts and hard candies and an occasional orange to finish off the meal.
Friends and relatives were in and out of the house all day; and, to the "Merry Christmas" greeting of one, the answer of the other, "The same to you, and many of them," never varied."
So I wish a "Merry Christmas to you, and many of them," and I'll be back to my genealogy work after Christmas.
Monday, December 9, 2013
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
WHY WOULD I CARE ABOUT THEM?
When I first began my genealogy quest, I had a discussion with my mother in law. She related a story to me about a cousin of hers who was also interested in genealogy. He apparently showed an aunt all the names of ancestors he had found, and she said "Why would I care about them? They're all dead."
I think that's how a lot of people feel who have never caught the genealogy bug. And although I personally never felt that way about my ancestors, I do have to admit I was largely indifferent to a search for them - until a few years ago, shortly after I had lost both of my parents, when I realized I had no ongoing connections to any of my mother's or father's families. Sure, I still had a few cousins and an aunt and two uncles, but they lived across the country from me, and I had little contact with them. From the time my parents decided to move from the midwest to California (when I was ten) I had only sporadic contact with anyone in either family. And so I largely grew up without extended family. This was a huge contrast with my husband's experience. He grew up with dozens of relatives in his very large Croatian family.
Once I began building my own family tree, I also began to learn a lot about the two families of my parents. My dad's Irish family (the Brennans) was incredibly interesting, as I had a lot of written material about them, thanks in large part to one relative who became a priest and wrote down much about his immigrant grandparents and his experience growing up around them. I also learned some about my paternal grandmother's family (the Shaws), with some branches going all the way back to the early American colonies. And I had a good understanding of my mother's maternal family - the Schuliens from Germany - much of it thanks to one of my second cousins, Tim, who not only has been doing genealogy himself, but lived near all the relatives and has an endless reservoir of stories about them.
But one family I knew very little about was my mother's paternal ancestors: the Muellers who hailed from Belgium. The reason I knew little about them was because they were never part of my life. My mother's father, Alfred, died when she was only 4 years old, and so I never even had a chance to meet my grandfather. I also have no recollection of meeting any of his relatives. So although my mother's maiden name was "Mueller" and I knew her siblings and nieces and nephews named Mueller, I knew no one else from the Mueller family. For all the years I've been working on genealogy, I've had a desire to know more about them, and to contact someone who still bears the Mueller name in the extended family. Until now, that desire has remained unfulfilled.
My cousin Jim and I have both attempted to contact Mueller second cousins with no success, but just yesterday, Jim emailed to say he had contacted a Mueller and hoped to learn more about the family. His contact is one of the many second cousins we share, and I feel like a whole new part of the family has opened up to us. Jim sent part of a genealogy report he received on one branch of the family, and I have since included all the names into my family tree. Of course, these are just names, and my hope is that both Jim and I can meet one of two of these relatives at some point. I even believe a few may be in California, so there may be an opportunity for me to meet someone without traveling across country.
One of our hopes is that the family can send us a picture of our great grandparents, Charles and Susanna Wagner Mueller, both of whom died before we were born. We have never seen a photograph of them, and we are hoping someone in the family has such a picture. We are also hoping to hear stories about our ancestors who are "all dead" - our great grandparents, as well as great uncles and aunts, and cousins.
This brings me back to the question: "Why would I care about them?" I care about them because they are a part of my family. And even though I never knew them, they share something with me - other relatives, DNA, a heritage, family traditions, etc. And knowing them, if only by name, makes me feel less alone, and part of a much larger family.
But genealogy does even more than that. I'm reminded of the inscription on a plaque dedicated to another relative, Ralph Brennan, who died defending a bridge in France during World War II. On the plaque, placed on the bridge over the river Moselle in France, are the words: " Men die two times, once on the day of their deaths, the second time when no one speaks of them.By this gesture, we hope that Lt. Brennan will not die a second time."
That's what genealogy is to me - a chance to keep people alive in our memories, a way of preventing that second death, when no one speaks of them again. To me, these people are not dead. Their lives meant something, and should be remembered and celebrated. They added something to this world, and though they may not have helped to save a town, like Ralph Brennan, they made their own contributions, and I want to know who they are.
I think that's how a lot of people feel who have never caught the genealogy bug. And although I personally never felt that way about my ancestors, I do have to admit I was largely indifferent to a search for them - until a few years ago, shortly after I had lost both of my parents, when I realized I had no ongoing connections to any of my mother's or father's families. Sure, I still had a few cousins and an aunt and two uncles, but they lived across the country from me, and I had little contact with them. From the time my parents decided to move from the midwest to California (when I was ten) I had only sporadic contact with anyone in either family. And so I largely grew up without extended family. This was a huge contrast with my husband's experience. He grew up with dozens of relatives in his very large Croatian family.
Once I began building my own family tree, I also began to learn a lot about the two families of my parents. My dad's Irish family (the Brennans) was incredibly interesting, as I had a lot of written material about them, thanks in large part to one relative who became a priest and wrote down much about his immigrant grandparents and his experience growing up around them. I also learned some about my paternal grandmother's family (the Shaws), with some branches going all the way back to the early American colonies. And I had a good understanding of my mother's maternal family - the Schuliens from Germany - much of it thanks to one of my second cousins, Tim, who not only has been doing genealogy himself, but lived near all the relatives and has an endless reservoir of stories about them.
But one family I knew very little about was my mother's paternal ancestors: the Muellers who hailed from Belgium. The reason I knew little about them was because they were never part of my life. My mother's father, Alfred, died when she was only 4 years old, and so I never even had a chance to meet my grandfather. I also have no recollection of meeting any of his relatives. So although my mother's maiden name was "Mueller" and I knew her siblings and nieces and nephews named Mueller, I knew no one else from the Mueller family. For all the years I've been working on genealogy, I've had a desire to know more about them, and to contact someone who still bears the Mueller name in the extended family. Until now, that desire has remained unfulfilled.
My cousin Jim and I have both attempted to contact Mueller second cousins with no success, but just yesterday, Jim emailed to say he had contacted a Mueller and hoped to learn more about the family. His contact is one of the many second cousins we share, and I feel like a whole new part of the family has opened up to us. Jim sent part of a genealogy report he received on one branch of the family, and I have since included all the names into my family tree. Of course, these are just names, and my hope is that both Jim and I can meet one of two of these relatives at some point. I even believe a few may be in California, so there may be an opportunity for me to meet someone without traveling across country.
One of our hopes is that the family can send us a picture of our great grandparents, Charles and Susanna Wagner Mueller, both of whom died before we were born. We have never seen a photograph of them, and we are hoping someone in the family has such a picture. We are also hoping to hear stories about our ancestors who are "all dead" - our great grandparents, as well as great uncles and aunts, and cousins.
This brings me back to the question: "Why would I care about them?" I care about them because they are a part of my family. And even though I never knew them, they share something with me - other relatives, DNA, a heritage, family traditions, etc. And knowing them, if only by name, makes me feel less alone, and part of a much larger family.
But genealogy does even more than that. I'm reminded of the inscription on a plaque dedicated to another relative, Ralph Brennan, who died defending a bridge in France during World War II. On the plaque, placed on the bridge over the river Moselle in France, are the words: " Men die two times, once on the day of their deaths, the second time when no one speaks of them.By this gesture, we hope that Lt. Brennan will not die a second time."
That's what genealogy is to me - a chance to keep people alive in our memories, a way of preventing that second death, when no one speaks of them again. To me, these people are not dead. Their lives meant something, and should be remembered and celebrated. They added something to this world, and though they may not have helped to save a town, like Ralph Brennan, they made their own contributions, and I want to know who they are.
Friday, October 18, 2013
SCHULIEN FAMILIES OF OHIO AND ILLINOIS
I'm currently putting together binders on each of 7 families in the hopes of eventually writing family history books about them. I realize this is a huge project, but I wrote two family history books for my husband's family and loved every minute of it.
These are the 7 families:
Brennan - of Ireland and Ohio
Lippincott - of England and numerous states including Ohio
Frecker - of Germany and Ohio
Shaw - of Scotland or England and Ohio
Schulien - of Germany, Ohio and Illinois
Mueller - of Belgium and Ohio
Wrocklage - of Germany and Ohio
The biggest problem I have is deciding which book to do first. Brennan is the one that grabbed me first, and my trip to Ireland last year only made me more interested. The problem is that I have been unsuccessful in tracing the family back before my 2nd great grandparents, the original immigrants to this country, Ned Brennan and Mary Fahey. And I want to spend some time familiarizing myself with the long and sad history of Ireland before I begin writing. No one, I believe, can understand his or her Irish family without understanding that terrible history.
Each of the other families has its own mystique and each attracts me in its own way. The Lippincott family can be traced back to the 1100's and it is through intermarriages that the family can trace some ancestors back to the time of the Mayflower. The Shaws are interesting, but the original immigrant is, at this time, unknown. The Muellers of Belgium can be traced back quite far, but I know very little about them at this time. And I hope to enlist the aid of one or more cousins to help me learn more and write that book. The Wrocklages and Freckers are also interesting, and I have recently hired a researcher in Germany to trace the families back further than anyone else in the United States - at least to my knowledge - has ever traced them.
But it is the Schuliens who are currently grabbing my interest, and with the help of my cousin Tim, and a few other cousins, I hope to put together a comprehensive picture of two large families, connected by a common ancestral couple: Mathias Schulien (1790-1868) and Elizabeth Jung (1790-1857). With this family, there is already a family tree that dates back to the 1600s, written by a Schulien descendant who lives in Germany. All that remains is to continue the tree with those immigrants who came to America in the mid to late 1800s. But this is no small task.
My maternal grandmother was a Schulien by birth. Her grandparents, Mathias Schulien (1816-1870) and Maria Petry (1819-1885) came to America in mid century and settled in Ohio where their descendants were farmers and businessmen. Their youngest son, my great grandfather, Joseph Schulien, was an engineer for the waterworks plant in Delphos, Ohio, and then started a foundry that he managed with his son Rod.
The immigrant, Mathias Schlien, had a brother, Johann Schulien (1818-1896) who appears to have come to America but eventually returned to Germany. Several of Johann's children settled in America, and I know the most about Joseph, who settled in Chicago and, after driving a beer wagon for several years, decided to open a saloon/restaurant in about 1899.
Four generations of Schuliens kept that restaurant in business for the next 100 years and Schulien's became a landmark in Chicago, famous for its owners who were highly respected magicians as well as saloon keepers. During Prohibition, Schulien's transformed itself into a speakeasy, with liquor supplied by none other than Al Capone. Schulien's closed its doors in 1999, just one year after its last proprietor, Charlie Schulien (Joseph's grandson), died.
I'm hoping to learn more about both of these Schulien branches, and contact known cousins, as well as unknown more distant cousins to gather pictures and stories and fill in gaps in the family tree.
In addition, next year I will be visiting Losheim am See, the small ancestral town of the Schuliens, where a distant cousin lives. There I hope to see some ancestral homes, still standing, and learn more about this interesting immigrant family.
These are the 7 families:
Brennan - of Ireland and Ohio
Lippincott - of England and numerous states including Ohio
Frecker - of Germany and Ohio
Shaw - of Scotland or England and Ohio
Schulien - of Germany, Ohio and Illinois
Mueller - of Belgium and Ohio
Wrocklage - of Germany and Ohio
The biggest problem I have is deciding which book to do first. Brennan is the one that grabbed me first, and my trip to Ireland last year only made me more interested. The problem is that I have been unsuccessful in tracing the family back before my 2nd great grandparents, the original immigrants to this country, Ned Brennan and Mary Fahey. And I want to spend some time familiarizing myself with the long and sad history of Ireland before I begin writing. No one, I believe, can understand his or her Irish family without understanding that terrible history.
Each of the other families has its own mystique and each attracts me in its own way. The Lippincott family can be traced back to the 1100's and it is through intermarriages that the family can trace some ancestors back to the time of the Mayflower. The Shaws are interesting, but the original immigrant is, at this time, unknown. The Muellers of Belgium can be traced back quite far, but I know very little about them at this time. And I hope to enlist the aid of one or more cousins to help me learn more and write that book. The Wrocklages and Freckers are also interesting, and I have recently hired a researcher in Germany to trace the families back further than anyone else in the United States - at least to my knowledge - has ever traced them.
But it is the Schuliens who are currently grabbing my interest, and with the help of my cousin Tim, and a few other cousins, I hope to put together a comprehensive picture of two large families, connected by a common ancestral couple: Mathias Schulien (1790-1868) and Elizabeth Jung (1790-1857). With this family, there is already a family tree that dates back to the 1600s, written by a Schulien descendant who lives in Germany. All that remains is to continue the tree with those immigrants who came to America in the mid to late 1800s. But this is no small task.
My maternal grandmother was a Schulien by birth. Her grandparents, Mathias Schulien (1816-1870) and Maria Petry (1819-1885) came to America in mid century and settled in Ohio where their descendants were farmers and businessmen. Their youngest son, my great grandfather, Joseph Schulien, was an engineer for the waterworks plant in Delphos, Ohio, and then started a foundry that he managed with his son Rod.
The immigrant, Mathias Schlien, had a brother, Johann Schulien (1818-1896) who appears to have come to America but eventually returned to Germany. Several of Johann's children settled in America, and I know the most about Joseph, who settled in Chicago and, after driving a beer wagon for several years, decided to open a saloon/restaurant in about 1899.
Four generations of Schuliens kept that restaurant in business for the next 100 years and Schulien's became a landmark in Chicago, famous for its owners who were highly respected magicians as well as saloon keepers. During Prohibition, Schulien's transformed itself into a speakeasy, with liquor supplied by none other than Al Capone. Schulien's closed its doors in 1999, just one year after its last proprietor, Charlie Schulien (Joseph's grandson), died.
I'm hoping to learn more about both of these Schulien branches, and contact known cousins, as well as unknown more distant cousins to gather pictures and stories and fill in gaps in the family tree.
In addition, next year I will be visiting Losheim am See, the small ancestral town of the Schuliens, where a distant cousin lives. There I hope to see some ancestral homes, still standing, and learn more about this interesting immigrant family.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
LAYERS
When I first took up a study of my family history, I had no idea how much effort it would require, nor how much I would love it.
I began four years ago when I joined Ancestry.com and began building a family tree. Because of the work my father had done, I had many names to put into the tree and immediately leaves popped up that indicated there were records I could access regarding specific ancestors. I clicked on those leaves and was directed to census records, birth, death and marriage records, immigration and naturalization records, land and tax records, and many family trees belonging to other ancestry members. These records gave me the names of many other ancestors and the family tree began to fill out more than I could imagine. Since many of my ancestors lived in Ohio at one time, and Ohio has a number of good records to search, I found much information.
After a number of months, however, I began to hit brick walls and could not figure out how to go any further. So, since I loved working on the family tree so much, I decided to start building a tree for my husband. I went through the same process and found many ancestors for him. I was fortunate with his family, as I had been with mine, because his recent paternal ancestors had all lived in California at one time, and California has extensive records online. But when I tried to go back before his grandparents immigrated from Croatia, I hit a brick wall. I also hit brick walls with his maternal ancestors. I realized at that point that genealogy was more than just building a tree with readily available information. I had only uncovered a first layer.
So I began to implement new strategies. I contacted those with trees containing the names of my ancestors and got direct information from them. I emailed, wrote letters, and spoke by phone with relatives of mine and my husband. This helped me discover another layer of information and filled in some gaps. This blog even became a source of information as people searching for information on their families ended up at the blog and emailed me when I had questions or had wrongly speculated on the details regarding the life of one or more ancestors. One person I contacted was a third cousin of my husband - on his mother's side - a cousin he had never met. Prior to speaking to him, I had found that one branch of my husband's tree led to 3 Mayflower passengers. At first I didn't believe it, as there is information on Ancestry that is incorrect, and since so many people are anxious to claim Mayflower ancestry, I knew I needed to verify what I had with other sources. This cousin, who had been doing genealogy for over 20 years, confirmed the information and directed me to a source book.
I still wasn't satisfied, however, so I started a search for the book and found that there was a copy in the Los Angeles County Public Library. So my husband and I made a trip to L.A. The book was held in a locked room, but once we were given access I was able to find the information I needed. My husband is indeed descended, on his maternal side, from 3 Mayflower passengers.
I also used Google to find pieces of information. I tried all kinds of words in the search bar - names, dates, towns, family names, etc - and was rewarded with many websites dedicated to the genealogy of specific surnames as well as stories and legends about specific people in my tree. One piece of information I found was regarding my husband's maternal ancestors. His mother's surname was Ruby and so when I typed in "Ruby genealogy" I was directed to a website that advertised a book: "Ruby-Ruby Family of Switzerland and America." Although I suspected this would not direct me to the correct information (as my mother in law said the Rubys were Irish) I clicked on the link anyway. The book was out of print, but the son of the authors had put the entire book online in PDF format, ready to download. So I downloaded it, and sure enough, it was the correct family. My mother in law and her family had been wrong about their national origin. So searching on Google and finding rich internet sources led me to another layer.
Then I went to a genealogical conference, an experience that could easily rival a Star Trek convention in its collection of odd characters, although without the costumes.It was a strange 4 days, but I did learn how to use Google Earth and Google images to find information about places where ancestors lived, and how to search even further with researchers in Europe. I was given the name of a Czech researcher and contacted him to work on a small part of my husband's family. I had already contacted a Croatian researher and hired her to find a larger part of his family. These two researchers gave me the information I needed to write a family history book for my husband's Croatian-Czech family.
After two years spent mostly researching my husband's family history, I retured to mine. Many more databases had been added to Ancestry, so many more leaves had appeared. I followed them and found more dates and names and the tree got even bigger. I taught myself how to search through what I call back doors - searching information on the brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, etc. of my direct ancestors to see if it could lead to more information. It frequently did and in this way I solved some mysteries. I then took a trip back to Ohio, where both of my parents were born and grew up, and visited cemeteries, spoke with relatives, and spent some time in the files of a local library. This filled in more gaps, and I had discovered another layer.
With respect to my father's Irish family, I took a trip to Ireland, spoke to distant cousins, and toured sites of importance to my family. Then I returned home and looked up records (the scant few that remain) regarding the family. I actually found a few clues as to the identity of some ancestors.
Turning to my mother's German family, I hired a researcher in Germany who found the parents and grandparents of some immigrants who came to Ohio in the mid 1800s. None of my living relatives had these names. This excavated another layer. And next year, my husband and I are going to spend a little time in Germany and Belgium, visiting the towns where these ancestors once lived.
So I've learned that genealogy is more than just building a family tree and finding names, although that alone can take a lifetime. It is also hearing stories, fleshing out the lives of ancestors, seeing where they lived, learning the circumstances that made their lives unique. And as one researcher said to me: "Genealogy is a marathon, not a sprint." Genealogy is somthing that can occupy you for a lifetime and never gets boring. There are always new facts to learn, and more layers to uncover. And it never gets boring.
I began four years ago when I joined Ancestry.com and began building a family tree. Because of the work my father had done, I had many names to put into the tree and immediately leaves popped up that indicated there were records I could access regarding specific ancestors. I clicked on those leaves and was directed to census records, birth, death and marriage records, immigration and naturalization records, land and tax records, and many family trees belonging to other ancestry members. These records gave me the names of many other ancestors and the family tree began to fill out more than I could imagine. Since many of my ancestors lived in Ohio at one time, and Ohio has a number of good records to search, I found much information.
After a number of months, however, I began to hit brick walls and could not figure out how to go any further. So, since I loved working on the family tree so much, I decided to start building a tree for my husband. I went through the same process and found many ancestors for him. I was fortunate with his family, as I had been with mine, because his recent paternal ancestors had all lived in California at one time, and California has extensive records online. But when I tried to go back before his grandparents immigrated from Croatia, I hit a brick wall. I also hit brick walls with his maternal ancestors. I realized at that point that genealogy was more than just building a tree with readily available information. I had only uncovered a first layer.
So I began to implement new strategies. I contacted those with trees containing the names of my ancestors and got direct information from them. I emailed, wrote letters, and spoke by phone with relatives of mine and my husband. This helped me discover another layer of information and filled in some gaps. This blog even became a source of information as people searching for information on their families ended up at the blog and emailed me when I had questions or had wrongly speculated on the details regarding the life of one or more ancestors. One person I contacted was a third cousin of my husband - on his mother's side - a cousin he had never met. Prior to speaking to him, I had found that one branch of my husband's tree led to 3 Mayflower passengers. At first I didn't believe it, as there is information on Ancestry that is incorrect, and since so many people are anxious to claim Mayflower ancestry, I knew I needed to verify what I had with other sources. This cousin, who had been doing genealogy for over 20 years, confirmed the information and directed me to a source book.
I still wasn't satisfied, however, so I started a search for the book and found that there was a copy in the Los Angeles County Public Library. So my husband and I made a trip to L.A. The book was held in a locked room, but once we were given access I was able to find the information I needed. My husband is indeed descended, on his maternal side, from 3 Mayflower passengers.
I also used Google to find pieces of information. I tried all kinds of words in the search bar - names, dates, towns, family names, etc - and was rewarded with many websites dedicated to the genealogy of specific surnames as well as stories and legends about specific people in my tree. One piece of information I found was regarding my husband's maternal ancestors. His mother's surname was Ruby and so when I typed in "Ruby genealogy" I was directed to a website that advertised a book: "Ruby-Ruby Family of Switzerland and America." Although I suspected this would not direct me to the correct information (as my mother in law said the Rubys were Irish) I clicked on the link anyway. The book was out of print, but the son of the authors had put the entire book online in PDF format, ready to download. So I downloaded it, and sure enough, it was the correct family. My mother in law and her family had been wrong about their national origin. So searching on Google and finding rich internet sources led me to another layer.
Then I went to a genealogical conference, an experience that could easily rival a Star Trek convention in its collection of odd characters, although without the costumes.It was a strange 4 days, but I did learn how to use Google Earth and Google images to find information about places where ancestors lived, and how to search even further with researchers in Europe. I was given the name of a Czech researcher and contacted him to work on a small part of my husband's family. I had already contacted a Croatian researher and hired her to find a larger part of his family. These two researchers gave me the information I needed to write a family history book for my husband's Croatian-Czech family.
After two years spent mostly researching my husband's family history, I retured to mine. Many more databases had been added to Ancestry, so many more leaves had appeared. I followed them and found more dates and names and the tree got even bigger. I taught myself how to search through what I call back doors - searching information on the brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, etc. of my direct ancestors to see if it could lead to more information. It frequently did and in this way I solved some mysteries. I then took a trip back to Ohio, where both of my parents were born and grew up, and visited cemeteries, spoke with relatives, and spent some time in the files of a local library. This filled in more gaps, and I had discovered another layer.
With respect to my father's Irish family, I took a trip to Ireland, spoke to distant cousins, and toured sites of importance to my family. Then I returned home and looked up records (the scant few that remain) regarding the family. I actually found a few clues as to the identity of some ancestors.
Turning to my mother's German family, I hired a researcher in Germany who found the parents and grandparents of some immigrants who came to Ohio in the mid 1800s. None of my living relatives had these names. This excavated another layer. And next year, my husband and I are going to spend a little time in Germany and Belgium, visiting the towns where these ancestors once lived.
So I've learned that genealogy is more than just building a family tree and finding names, although that alone can take a lifetime. It is also hearing stories, fleshing out the lives of ancestors, seeing where they lived, learning the circumstances that made their lives unique. And as one researcher said to me: "Genealogy is a marathon, not a sprint." Genealogy is somthing that can occupy you for a lifetime and never gets boring. There are always new facts to learn, and more layers to uncover. And it never gets boring.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
MY GRANDMOTHER'S HOUSE
My aunt emailed me the other day and told me my grandmother's house was on the market in Lima, Ohio. I had two grandmothers in Lima, and they both had inviting and memorable houses, houses I loved visiting when I was a child. They were both two story houses and seemed massive to me from a child's perspective, although the details regarding my grandmother's house now on the market list its square footage as just over 1600 square feet.
I was fortunate to visit my grandmother's house when I was in Lima recently. My cousin Jim and I knocked on the door and were greeted by a very puzzled woman who lived there. Obviously, we were strangers to her and she was probably expecting a sales pitch of some sort. Instead, we told her this was once our grandmother's house, and we would love to come in and look around. I don't know about Jim, but I wanted to recapture some of the magic of my childhood there in that house. And while I loved being able to walk around inside that once warm and inviting space, the magic was definitely gone. The house was mostly empty, filled only with boxes, junk and very little furniture. The rooms were dark, the draperies closed, I'm not sure what the story was, but since the house is now on the market, perhaps they were getting ready to stage the place in order to sell it.
Since I've been back in my own home in Callifornia, I've thought about why the place seemed so cold and devoid of magic. It wasn't just that the place was run down, looking nothing like the home my grandmother kept so beautifully, nor dark as opposed to the bright, cheerful home where she lived. I now realize the magic was gone because the people I loved were not there. My grandmother, my aunt Marcie, and for a while my uncle Charlie, were not there. The kitchen did not smell of cookies baking or pot roast simmering. The living room did not smell of furniture polish or my aunt Marcie's perfumed stationery. The bathroom did not exude that distinctive aroma of Dove soap. And my grandmother was not there welcoming me with her smile and a big hug and saying what she always said, "Make yourself at home; what's mine is yours."
My cousin Jim and I asked the woman what she thought the value of the home was, and she suggested a price of about $40,000 to $60,000. We were stunned. In California, $40,000 might buy you a chicken coop, but little else. Each of us had the thought that at that price we could purchase it, fix it up, and rent it out, except neither of us lives nearby, so that would not work. The list price today is actually $75,000 and I will be curious to see if the owners get that price.
I would love to go back in 5 years and see if the new owners have fixed it up, though the area looks a bit run down and I imagine it's even possible that in 5 to 10 years the house will be torn down. It was built in 1921, and is in need of much repair. So while I hope someone purchases it and tends to it lovingly, for now I will just have to hang onto my memories and keep an image in my mind of what my grandmother's house looked like - and more importantly, felt like - in its heyday.
I was fortunate to visit my grandmother's house when I was in Lima recently. My cousin Jim and I knocked on the door and were greeted by a very puzzled woman who lived there. Obviously, we were strangers to her and she was probably expecting a sales pitch of some sort. Instead, we told her this was once our grandmother's house, and we would love to come in and look around. I don't know about Jim, but I wanted to recapture some of the magic of my childhood there in that house. And while I loved being able to walk around inside that once warm and inviting space, the magic was definitely gone. The house was mostly empty, filled only with boxes, junk and very little furniture. The rooms were dark, the draperies closed, I'm not sure what the story was, but since the house is now on the market, perhaps they were getting ready to stage the place in order to sell it.
Since I've been back in my own home in Callifornia, I've thought about why the place seemed so cold and devoid of magic. It wasn't just that the place was run down, looking nothing like the home my grandmother kept so beautifully, nor dark as opposed to the bright, cheerful home where she lived. I now realize the magic was gone because the people I loved were not there. My grandmother, my aunt Marcie, and for a while my uncle Charlie, were not there. The kitchen did not smell of cookies baking or pot roast simmering. The living room did not smell of furniture polish or my aunt Marcie's perfumed stationery. The bathroom did not exude that distinctive aroma of Dove soap. And my grandmother was not there welcoming me with her smile and a big hug and saying what she always said, "Make yourself at home; what's mine is yours."
My cousin Jim and I asked the woman what she thought the value of the home was, and she suggested a price of about $40,000 to $60,000. We were stunned. In California, $40,000 might buy you a chicken coop, but little else. Each of us had the thought that at that price we could purchase it, fix it up, and rent it out, except neither of us lives nearby, so that would not work. The list price today is actually $75,000 and I will be curious to see if the owners get that price.
I would love to go back in 5 years and see if the new owners have fixed it up, though the area looks a bit run down and I imagine it's even possible that in 5 to 10 years the house will be torn down. It was built in 1921, and is in need of much repair. So while I hope someone purchases it and tends to it lovingly, for now I will just have to hang onto my memories and keep an image in my mind of what my grandmother's house looked like - and more importantly, felt like - in its heyday.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
MOVING FORWARD: NEW PLANS, NEW DISCOVERIES
I know I've been neglecting this blog of late and the thought of it nags at me from time to time. But that's how it is with amateur genealogists. We attend to the research in spurts, depending on the other demands of life. Of late, I've been working on "old people" stuff - preparing for my husband's retirement by changing phone, internet, and television contracts, figuring out if we can go from two cars to one, etc. Have also been volunteering at a new hospital in town and planning our next European vacation, though that won't be for another year. And since we'll be going to France and Belgium, I'm brushing up on my French with Rosetta Stone.
We've planned an October, 2014, Viking River Cruise in the south of France, and we've scheduled time in Paris, Normandy, and Versailles. Since my husband and I will both be retired by then, we want to stay as long as we can (as long as the money holds out) and so we'll be stretching out the trip to the Alsace Lorraine region of France and specifically the town of Nancy, where a distant Brennan cousin, Ralph Brennan, died defending a bridge and thus saving the town from the Germans during World War II. He is buried in a nearby cemetery, and there is a memorial to him and his company at the bridge. I'm told by another cousin that we will be welcomed with great enthusiasm there, for the Brennan name is held in high esteem because of Ralph.
From there, we will make a brief foray into Southwestern Germany, to a small town called Losheim am See, where my mother's Schulien relatives are from.
After that, we'll head up to Belgium, and the small village of Turpange, in the Luxembourg region, where my mother's Mueller relatives are from. Then we'll head up to Bruges and Brussels, before heading home.
Our 2012 vacation was, in part, an attempt to connect with my father's Irish heritage. This trip will be mostly an attempt to connect with my mother's ancestry, that is after we enjoy all the culture, history, and wine that France has to offer.
In the meantime, in addition to brushing up on my French, I'll be returning to my research into my family, checking out any new information in the Ancestry databases, and writing to a cemetery in New Jersey to see if I can find any records on a branch of the Brennan family that moved to Jersey City in the early part of the last century. This would be Tom and Mary Ann (Brennan) Ryan and their children. So far, I have been able to learn very little about them, other than the scant information in census records. Of the six children of Ned Brennan and Mary Fahey (my immigrant great, great grandparents), Mary Ann's family is the only one that remains a mystery.
Stay tuned. Hopefully, I'll be reporting more often.
We've planned an October, 2014, Viking River Cruise in the south of France, and we've scheduled time in Paris, Normandy, and Versailles. Since my husband and I will both be retired by then, we want to stay as long as we can (as long as the money holds out) and so we'll be stretching out the trip to the Alsace Lorraine region of France and specifically the town of Nancy, where a distant Brennan cousin, Ralph Brennan, died defending a bridge and thus saving the town from the Germans during World War II. He is buried in a nearby cemetery, and there is a memorial to him and his company at the bridge. I'm told by another cousin that we will be welcomed with great enthusiasm there, for the Brennan name is held in high esteem because of Ralph.
From there, we will make a brief foray into Southwestern Germany, to a small town called Losheim am See, where my mother's Schulien relatives are from.
After that, we'll head up to Belgium, and the small village of Turpange, in the Luxembourg region, where my mother's Mueller relatives are from. Then we'll head up to Bruges and Brussels, before heading home.
Our 2012 vacation was, in part, an attempt to connect with my father's Irish heritage. This trip will be mostly an attempt to connect with my mother's ancestry, that is after we enjoy all the culture, history, and wine that France has to offer.
In the meantime, in addition to brushing up on my French, I'll be returning to my research into my family, checking out any new information in the Ancestry databases, and writing to a cemetery in New Jersey to see if I can find any records on a branch of the Brennan family that moved to Jersey City in the early part of the last century. This would be Tom and Mary Ann (Brennan) Ryan and their children. So far, I have been able to learn very little about them, other than the scant information in census records. Of the six children of Ned Brennan and Mary Fahey (my immigrant great, great grandparents), Mary Ann's family is the only one that remains a mystery.
Stay tuned. Hopefully, I'll be reporting more often.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
SOME MYSTERIES SOLVED, OTHERS CREATED
A few days ago, I received a packet of records from my researcher in Germany and breathed a great sigh of relief. I had never met this researcher before, had been given his name by another researcher that I contacted (whose price was too high) and thus was not sure whether or not the money I wired for the work would prove worthwhile.
The packet was more informative than I had imagined it would be. There were typed birth records, death records, and marriage records. There were names of siblings of some of my ancestors. And for nearly every typed record, there was at least one copy of a church record, usually written in Latin.
The records I was seeking were those of my maternal grandmother's family. Her name was Mary Bernadine (Bernie) Schulien. Bernie's father was Joseph Schulien, her mother Mary Gertrude Frecker - obvious German names. Since I already had much information on the Schulien family (from research that had been done in Germany some years ago) I was concentrating on the Frecker family, namely the paternal and maternal ancestors of Mary Gertrude Frecker, surnames Frecker and Wrocklage.
Mary Gertrude's father was Hermann Henry Frecker. For the years I have been doing genealogy, he has been the most mysterious person in the family tree. All I knew about him was that he had been born around 1837 in Lower Saxony in Germany, and come to America sometime before 1860, when he married Mary Bernadina Wrocklage. The couple had five children between 1861 and 1869, the same year Hermann died of a cancerous tumor. Hermann had an older sister, Clara Philomena Frecker who married and had several children. Hermann and Clara's mother, Angela Moenter Frecker, came to America as well and presumably their father had died in Germany before their departure. This is all I knew prior to the recent research.
Now I have much more information on the Freckers. For instance, Hermann's father was in the army in Germany. The family moved around a bit and thus I do not know for certain the town in which Hermann was born. It had always been a puzzle to me as to why no one researching this family had an exact birth date for Hermann and now I know why. Without the name of the town where someone was born, you cannot find the birth date. I have been told that the records are probably in a separate place, with military records. However, I have learned the name of Hermann's father - Johann Gerdt Frecker - as well as the names of Hermann's grandparents and great grandparents, going back to the birth of his great grandfather, Johann Cordt Frecker in 1697. I also know that the name of Hermann's mother was Catharina Engel Moenter. Engel in German is translated Angel or Angela, like the current prime minister of Germany. In addition, I have the names of Angela's parents, and a surprising fact - Angela was a twin. The records indicate that she only had sisters, so her relationship to any Moenters in Ohio cannot be that of siblings.
I also have some new information on the Wrocklages. Mary Gertrude Frecker's mother was Mary Bernadina Wrocklage. I have written about her family before. I had previously learned that the name Wrocklage was attached to a farm in Lower Saxony, and that the patriarch of the American Wrocklages had to change his surname from Esch to Wrocklage in order to inherit the tenancy rights to his wife's farm. His birth name was Christian Mathias Esch, but he used the name Christian Mathias Wrocklage after his marriage to Anna Maria Catharina Wrocklage. Much research has been done on the Wrocklage name, and there is even a comprehensive website dedicated to it. However, I knew nothing of the Esch family, and since this is Christian's birth family, I wanted to learn more. Now I have the names of Christian's parents, as well as his brothers and sisters. I also have the names of the godparents of his children, some of whom are his siblings.
There is more I want to learn. I'd like to trace Christian's family back further, and clear up a few mysteries about his wives and children. I still don't know whether Christian had two or three wives and whether the mother of his youngest child was his second or his third wife. His will names only his second wife, while some records indicate he was married a third time. I'd also like to find Hermann Frecker's exact birth date and learn whether he had other siblings.
However, none of this matters all that much. Whether I do or don't find these facts, my life will not change. But there's something that happens to you when you start to research your family tree. You become a solver of puzzles, and there's always a new puzzle to solve. I guess it's a bit like trying to finish a crossword, although at least once you finish a single crossword, you can put your pencil down and refuse to begin another. (Most crossword fanatics will tell you that's impossible.) I suppose I could draw an imaginary line in the sand and say "Once I find this out, I'm stopping," but somehow I can never do that. So I suppose I will dig into my pocket and find a little more money to pay the researcher to pursue the answer to these mysteries. After that, who knows?
The packet was more informative than I had imagined it would be. There were typed birth records, death records, and marriage records. There were names of siblings of some of my ancestors. And for nearly every typed record, there was at least one copy of a church record, usually written in Latin.
The records I was seeking were those of my maternal grandmother's family. Her name was Mary Bernadine (Bernie) Schulien. Bernie's father was Joseph Schulien, her mother Mary Gertrude Frecker - obvious German names. Since I already had much information on the Schulien family (from research that had been done in Germany some years ago) I was concentrating on the Frecker family, namely the paternal and maternal ancestors of Mary Gertrude Frecker, surnames Frecker and Wrocklage.
Mary Gertrude's father was Hermann Henry Frecker. For the years I have been doing genealogy, he has been the most mysterious person in the family tree. All I knew about him was that he had been born around 1837 in Lower Saxony in Germany, and come to America sometime before 1860, when he married Mary Bernadina Wrocklage. The couple had five children between 1861 and 1869, the same year Hermann died of a cancerous tumor. Hermann had an older sister, Clara Philomena Frecker who married and had several children. Hermann and Clara's mother, Angela Moenter Frecker, came to America as well and presumably their father had died in Germany before their departure. This is all I knew prior to the recent research.
Now I have much more information on the Freckers. For instance, Hermann's father was in the army in Germany. The family moved around a bit and thus I do not know for certain the town in which Hermann was born. It had always been a puzzle to me as to why no one researching this family had an exact birth date for Hermann and now I know why. Without the name of the town where someone was born, you cannot find the birth date. I have been told that the records are probably in a separate place, with military records. However, I have learned the name of Hermann's father - Johann Gerdt Frecker - as well as the names of Hermann's grandparents and great grandparents, going back to the birth of his great grandfather, Johann Cordt Frecker in 1697. I also know that the name of Hermann's mother was Catharina Engel Moenter. Engel in German is translated Angel or Angela, like the current prime minister of Germany. In addition, I have the names of Angela's parents, and a surprising fact - Angela was a twin. The records indicate that she only had sisters, so her relationship to any Moenters in Ohio cannot be that of siblings.
I also have some new information on the Wrocklages. Mary Gertrude Frecker's mother was Mary Bernadina Wrocklage. I have written about her family before. I had previously learned that the name Wrocklage was attached to a farm in Lower Saxony, and that the patriarch of the American Wrocklages had to change his surname from Esch to Wrocklage in order to inherit the tenancy rights to his wife's farm. His birth name was Christian Mathias Esch, but he used the name Christian Mathias Wrocklage after his marriage to Anna Maria Catharina Wrocklage. Much research has been done on the Wrocklage name, and there is even a comprehensive website dedicated to it. However, I knew nothing of the Esch family, and since this is Christian's birth family, I wanted to learn more. Now I have the names of Christian's parents, as well as his brothers and sisters. I also have the names of the godparents of his children, some of whom are his siblings.
There is more I want to learn. I'd like to trace Christian's family back further, and clear up a few mysteries about his wives and children. I still don't know whether Christian had two or three wives and whether the mother of his youngest child was his second or his third wife. His will names only his second wife, while some records indicate he was married a third time. I'd also like to find Hermann Frecker's exact birth date and learn whether he had other siblings.
However, none of this matters all that much. Whether I do or don't find these facts, my life will not change. But there's something that happens to you when you start to research your family tree. You become a solver of puzzles, and there's always a new puzzle to solve. I guess it's a bit like trying to finish a crossword, although at least once you finish a single crossword, you can put your pencil down and refuse to begin another. (Most crossword fanatics will tell you that's impossible.) I suppose I could draw an imaginary line in the sand and say "Once I find this out, I'm stopping," but somehow I can never do that. So I suppose I will dig into my pocket and find a little more money to pay the researcher to pursue the answer to these mysteries. After that, who knows?
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
PUTTING ON MY DETECTIVE CAP
Being an amateur genealogist really is like being a detective, hence the title of this blog.
In order to find some distant family members, you not only have to expertly navigate the web, you have to ask a lot of questions of relatives and other researchers, and you have to search through old boxes and files in your possession to find clues.
On the Irish side of my family, I have a number of treasures that continue to give me clues to the existence of quite distant members of the family.
For instance, my 3rd great grandmother is Sallie Fahey. Her maiden name was Finn. Until now, I haven't spent any time researching the Finn side of the family, but ever since my uncle Tom told me we are related to the Finns and there are still many in Ohio, I have been trying to find out what I could. The place to start would be with any brothers or sisters of Sallie who may have come to the United States. So I started with the Allen County Historical Society located in Lima.
Now I was just in Lima a few weeks ago and didn't think to search for Finns then, so I contacted the researcher there and asked her to look into it. She only found a Patrick Finn who married an Anna Delaney and had a large family, and I made a preliminary assumption that Patrick may be Sallie's brother. Hoever, I needed more confirmation. So I turned to one of my most reliable sources, Father Robert Brennan (Father Bob) my 1st cousin, twice removed (i.e. the son of my great grandfather's brother.)
Father Bob was an accomplished scholar, missionary, and writer and he left much of his writing behind. Besides a textbook on psychology and other academic works, he wrote a personal memoir: Irish Diary, about his days traveling around Ireland and visiting with family there. I have found many family clues in that book. However, some writings that have proved even more helpful are unpublished writings about his family. I found these in a box my father had stored in a closet, and I turned to them again, to see if Father Bob had written anything about the Finns.
Sure enough, within the first several pages of his writings, he mentions his great grandmother's brothers, John and Bill (William) Finn. He even mentions the names of the children of John. So I have a start now. While he did not mention a Patrick, it is still possible that Patrick was another sibling. I have more work to do, but at least I know the names of some Finns to whom I am related. I wonder if Father Bob ever imagined how valuable his writings (and sometimes scribblings in the margins) would be to future family members.
In order to find some distant family members, you not only have to expertly navigate the web, you have to ask a lot of questions of relatives and other researchers, and you have to search through old boxes and files in your possession to find clues.
On the Irish side of my family, I have a number of treasures that continue to give me clues to the existence of quite distant members of the family.
For instance, my 3rd great grandmother is Sallie Fahey. Her maiden name was Finn. Until now, I haven't spent any time researching the Finn side of the family, but ever since my uncle Tom told me we are related to the Finns and there are still many in Ohio, I have been trying to find out what I could. The place to start would be with any brothers or sisters of Sallie who may have come to the United States. So I started with the Allen County Historical Society located in Lima.
Now I was just in Lima a few weeks ago and didn't think to search for Finns then, so I contacted the researcher there and asked her to look into it. She only found a Patrick Finn who married an Anna Delaney and had a large family, and I made a preliminary assumption that Patrick may be Sallie's brother. Hoever, I needed more confirmation. So I turned to one of my most reliable sources, Father Robert Brennan (Father Bob) my 1st cousin, twice removed (i.e. the son of my great grandfather's brother.)
Father Bob was an accomplished scholar, missionary, and writer and he left much of his writing behind. Besides a textbook on psychology and other academic works, he wrote a personal memoir: Irish Diary, about his days traveling around Ireland and visiting with family there. I have found many family clues in that book. However, some writings that have proved even more helpful are unpublished writings about his family. I found these in a box my father had stored in a closet, and I turned to them again, to see if Father Bob had written anything about the Finns.
Sure enough, within the first several pages of his writings, he mentions his great grandmother's brothers, John and Bill (William) Finn. He even mentions the names of the children of John. So I have a start now. While he did not mention a Patrick, it is still possible that Patrick was another sibling. I have more work to do, but at least I know the names of some Finns to whom I am related. I wonder if Father Bob ever imagined how valuable his writings (and sometimes scribblings in the margins) would be to future family members.
Monday, June 17, 2013
RECORDS FROM GERMANY
Over the weekend, I received some information from my German researcher. The actual copies of records are still to come, but I have received information on the parents and grandparents of Hermann Frecker, and the parents of Christian Mathias Esch.
First, however, I had to de-code the sumbols used in German genealogical research. On the family tree were the following symbols: *, + , oo , and ~ . I did not know what they and other symbols meant, but thanks to Google, I was able to find out. * means born. + means died. oo means married and ~ means baptized. So with this code, I was able to decipher the various dates offered. However, there were still some words under the names that I did not understand.
For instance, I did not know the meaning of the word Colon or the word Colon followed by a name, such as Thomes. I found out that Colon is the word used to designate that the person is a "farmer" while Colon Thomes means that the person is a farmer on the Thomes farmland. In some cases, it means the farmer inherited the tenancy through marriage and changed his name to that of the farm. This is what happened to my ancestor Christian Mathias Esch who changed his name to Wrocklage when he married so that he could claim his wife's farm.
Up until I had this research done, I did not know the names of the parents of Christian Mathias Esch Wrocklage (my 3rd great grandfather), nor the name of the father of Hermann Frecker (my 2nd great grandfather). Now I have all four names of the parents. The father of Christian Mathias Esch Wrocklage is Conrad Esch and he was a farmer. Christian's mother was Maria Angela Gartmann. They were married October 26, 1777, so they were probably born around the mid-1700s.
I knew previously that the mother of Hermann Frecker was Angela Monter, but I did not know the name of his father. Angela had come to this country either with or close to the time her adult children, Clara Philomena Frecker and Hermann Henry Frecker, had emigrated. She is buried in Delphos, St. John's Cemetery. I do not believe Hermann's father emigrated and it is likely he died before the rest of the family left Germany. He was a soldier and his name was Franz Eberhard Frecker. He was born in 1787 in Oesede. Hermann's mother's name on her birth and/or baptismal record was Cahtarina Engel Monter. Engel means Angel, hence the use of the name Angela in America.
I'm hoping to soon receive more information on the siblings of some of these ancestors which will help me to identify any relationships with other emigrees from Germany who have the same surnames. For example, there are several Monters who lived in Delphos, the town where Angela Monter Frecker and her two children settled. I would like to know if any of these Monters were Angela's siblings or cousins. It seems likely that Angela would have settled in an area where she had kin, yet without more information, I do not know how closely related these Monters are.
In the meantime, here is a picture of the interior of the Cathedral in Osnabruck where some of my ancestors were married.
First, however, I had to de-code the sumbols used in German genealogical research. On the family tree were the following symbols: *, + , oo , and ~ . I did not know what they and other symbols meant, but thanks to Google, I was able to find out. * means born. + means died. oo means married and ~ means baptized. So with this code, I was able to decipher the various dates offered. However, there were still some words under the names that I did not understand.
For instance, I did not know the meaning of the word Colon or the word Colon followed by a name, such as Thomes. I found out that Colon is the word used to designate that the person is a "farmer" while Colon Thomes means that the person is a farmer on the Thomes farmland. In some cases, it means the farmer inherited the tenancy through marriage and changed his name to that of the farm. This is what happened to my ancestor Christian Mathias Esch who changed his name to Wrocklage when he married so that he could claim his wife's farm.
Up until I had this research done, I did not know the names of the parents of Christian Mathias Esch Wrocklage (my 3rd great grandfather), nor the name of the father of Hermann Frecker (my 2nd great grandfather). Now I have all four names of the parents. The father of Christian Mathias Esch Wrocklage is Conrad Esch and he was a farmer. Christian's mother was Maria Angela Gartmann. They were married October 26, 1777, so they were probably born around the mid-1700s.
I knew previously that the mother of Hermann Frecker was Angela Monter, but I did not know the name of his father. Angela had come to this country either with or close to the time her adult children, Clara Philomena Frecker and Hermann Henry Frecker, had emigrated. She is buried in Delphos, St. John's Cemetery. I do not believe Hermann's father emigrated and it is likely he died before the rest of the family left Germany. He was a soldier and his name was Franz Eberhard Frecker. He was born in 1787 in Oesede. Hermann's mother's name on her birth and/or baptismal record was Cahtarina Engel Monter. Engel means Angel, hence the use of the name Angela in America.
I'm hoping to soon receive more information on the siblings of some of these ancestors which will help me to identify any relationships with other emigrees from Germany who have the same surnames. For example, there are several Monters who lived in Delphos, the town where Angela Monter Frecker and her two children settled. I would like to know if any of these Monters were Angela's siblings or cousins. It seems likely that Angela would have settled in an area where she had kin, yet without more information, I do not know how closely related these Monters are.
In the meantime, here is a picture of the interior of the Cathedral in Osnabruck where some of my ancestors were married.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS
There are several lines within my family that have come to a dead end. In other words, I simply can't get back any further than a particular ancestor, usually the immigrant ancestor.
That's the way it was with my husband's Croatian family. While we had names of his great grandparents, we had nothing beyond them, and no way to access any records here in the United States. So two options were open to us - either travel to the small island of Brac in Croatia and try to locate (and translate) church records or hire someone in Croatia to do it for us. Since we weren't planning to travel to Croatia any time soon, I hired a researcher and she found many records. I also hired a researcher in the Czech Republic to find records of one member of the family.
And now, I'm faced with the same situation in my own family. I've already traveled to Ireland and even hired a research firm to find out what I couldn't find on my own of my father's family. The firm was able to locate a few pieces of information, but records are scarce in Ireland and I fear this dead end is permanent. But my mother's German family is a different story. There are more records available and with someone skilled in searching through them, I think I may finally find out something about three family names: Moenter; Frecker; and Esch.
My great, great grandfather was Hermann Henry Frecker, born in Germany in 1837. He married Maria Bernadina Wrocklage in 1860 and died in 1869 after fathering 5 children. One of those children was my great grandmother, Mary Gertrude Frecker. I know the name of Hermann's mother and sister. They are Angela Moenter Frecker and Clara Philoemena Frecker. But I do not know the name of Hermann's father, who probably died before Hermann, his mother and sister came to the United States. I would like information on this family and their ancestors.
Hermann's wife, Mary Bernadina, was a Wrocklage, though her father's surname, before his marriage, was Esch. In those days, in the area we now know as Germany, there were strict laws of inheritance. Large farms were generally subdivided and tenant farmers could work the land for a fee to the landlord. The eldest son usually inherited the rights to tenancy, but if there was no son, or if the son forfeited his rights, a daughter could inherit the rights through her husband, but only if her husband changed his name to her family name. So in the Wrocklage family, Anna Maria Caterina Wrocklage married Christian Mathias Esch and when her brother forfeited his rights to the farm, Christian Mathias Esch changed his name to Christian Mathias Wrocklage. I would love to know more about the Esch family from which he came.
Although I have hired researchers before and always been pleased with their findings, it feels like a defeat whenever I do. Genealogy is like a puzzle that you want to solve yourself. Hiring someine is like using a dictionary to solve a crossword. It just isn't quite the same and takes some of the fun out of it. But I've been looking for four years now, and haven't gotten any further than when I started with these families, so I have decided the only way to get the information is to ask for assistance. Therefore, I have hired someone in Germany to look into these three families, and hope to hear something in about a month.
That's the way it was with my husband's Croatian family. While we had names of his great grandparents, we had nothing beyond them, and no way to access any records here in the United States. So two options were open to us - either travel to the small island of Brac in Croatia and try to locate (and translate) church records or hire someone in Croatia to do it for us. Since we weren't planning to travel to Croatia any time soon, I hired a researcher and she found many records. I also hired a researcher in the Czech Republic to find records of one member of the family.
And now, I'm faced with the same situation in my own family. I've already traveled to Ireland and even hired a research firm to find out what I couldn't find on my own of my father's family. The firm was able to locate a few pieces of information, but records are scarce in Ireland and I fear this dead end is permanent. But my mother's German family is a different story. There are more records available and with someone skilled in searching through them, I think I may finally find out something about three family names: Moenter; Frecker; and Esch.
My great, great grandfather was Hermann Henry Frecker, born in Germany in 1837. He married Maria Bernadina Wrocklage in 1860 and died in 1869 after fathering 5 children. One of those children was my great grandmother, Mary Gertrude Frecker. I know the name of Hermann's mother and sister. They are Angela Moenter Frecker and Clara Philoemena Frecker. But I do not know the name of Hermann's father, who probably died before Hermann, his mother and sister came to the United States. I would like information on this family and their ancestors.
Hermann's wife, Mary Bernadina, was a Wrocklage, though her father's surname, before his marriage, was Esch. In those days, in the area we now know as Germany, there were strict laws of inheritance. Large farms were generally subdivided and tenant farmers could work the land for a fee to the landlord. The eldest son usually inherited the rights to tenancy, but if there was no son, or if the son forfeited his rights, a daughter could inherit the rights through her husband, but only if her husband changed his name to her family name. So in the Wrocklage family, Anna Maria Caterina Wrocklage married Christian Mathias Esch and when her brother forfeited his rights to the farm, Christian Mathias Esch changed his name to Christian Mathias Wrocklage. I would love to know more about the Esch family from which he came.
Although I have hired researchers before and always been pleased with their findings, it feels like a defeat whenever I do. Genealogy is like a puzzle that you want to solve yourself. Hiring someine is like using a dictionary to solve a crossword. It just isn't quite the same and takes some of the fun out of it. But I've been looking for four years now, and haven't gotten any further than when I started with these families, so I have decided the only way to get the information is to ask for assistance. Therefore, I have hired someone in Germany to look into these three families, and hope to hear something in about a month.
Friday, June 7, 2013
RYAN FAMILY OF NEW JERSEY
Now that I have returned from Ohio with new information regarding my ancestors, I am anxous to fill in as many blank spaces in the family tree as possible. I have gathered much information on my Brennan ancestors, beginning with Ned Brennan and Mary Fahey (my great, great grandparents) who immigrated to the United States, settling in Lima, Ohio, in 1861.
Ned and Mary had six children: Mary Ann; Michael; Bridget; Sarah; Edward; and John. All of the children except Mary Ann remained in Lima, so their records have been fairly easy to find.
The only family that remains something of a mystery to me is the family of Mary Ann Brennan, who married Thomas Ryan and moved to Jersey City, New Jersey. They had, as best as I can figure, 9 children: Edward; Patrick; Thomas; Mary (Mae); Raymond; Sarah; Anne, Joseph and Rita.
Thomas died before 1920 and Mary Ann died in 1938 and is buried in Holy Name Cemetery.,
I have only been able to locate the married names of two of the daughters, largely via census records. Mary or Mae (born in 1890) married Samuel Pierce and they had two sons. Sarah (born in 1897) married a man named Thomas Nolley, or Molley, or Molloy. This information was taken from a 1920 census record and the handwriting makes the actual name unclear.
As the name Ryan is very common, and there are numerous Ryan families in Jersey City, it has been almost impossible to trace the children and grandchildren of Mary Ann Brennan Ryan.
If anyone comes upon this blog and is descended from this branch of the Brennan family, I would appreciate hearing from you. Just leave a comment and I will receive an email notifying me. I would love to hear about your branch of the family.
Ned and Mary had six children: Mary Ann; Michael; Bridget; Sarah; Edward; and John. All of the children except Mary Ann remained in Lima, so their records have been fairly easy to find.
The only family that remains something of a mystery to me is the family of Mary Ann Brennan, who married Thomas Ryan and moved to Jersey City, New Jersey. They had, as best as I can figure, 9 children: Edward; Patrick; Thomas; Mary (Mae); Raymond; Sarah; Anne, Joseph and Rita.
Thomas died before 1920 and Mary Ann died in 1938 and is buried in Holy Name Cemetery.,
I have only been able to locate the married names of two of the daughters, largely via census records. Mary or Mae (born in 1890) married Samuel Pierce and they had two sons. Sarah (born in 1897) married a man named Thomas Nolley, or Molley, or Molloy. This information was taken from a 1920 census record and the handwriting makes the actual name unclear.
As the name Ryan is very common, and there are numerous Ryan families in Jersey City, it has been almost impossible to trace the children and grandchildren of Mary Ann Brennan Ryan.
If anyone comes upon this blog and is descended from this branch of the Brennan family, I would appreciate hearing from you. Just leave a comment and I will receive an email notifying me. I would love to hear about your branch of the family.
Sunday, June 2, 2013
RETURN TO OHIO PART III
On Friday, we drove around Lima a bit more and discovered the Lippincott Bird Sanctuary. This interested us for two reasons. I have Lippincotts in my ancestry, and Tony is a bird watcher. So we spent a bit of time looking around. It was quite peaceful and lovely.
Then after lunch, my aunt Sheila and I spent a few hours looking through old family photographs. A few brought back memories. Others were of family members I never really knew. We spent the next day visiting with my uncle Tom, who is Sheila's brother, and part of his family, as well as Sheila and my cousin Jennifer. The visit was very moving. I hadn't seen my uncle since I was about 20, and I know he was thinking about his two brothers (one of them my father) who are gone. We had a good time, though, joking and laughing and getting re-aquainted. It was tough to say "good-bye."
After our visit, though, Tony and I cheered ourselves up by stopping for dinner at the Kewpee, a hamburger joint that was founded in Lima in 1926, the year my parents were born. It's still in its original location, with the same linoleum on the floor and the same vinyl countertops. It has a drive-through, and at the end of the drive-through lane is evidence of an old turntable which used to turn your car around in the cramped space so you could drive out.
It was odd to think that this same restaurant is where my mom and dad ate hamburgers as teenagers - long before the days of McDonald's.
On our final day in Lima, Tony and I drove around trying to locate the place where my great great grandparents had lived. They named the area "Vinegar Hill" after a famous battle in Ireland's tortured fight for independence. The location of the battle was a hill called (in Gaelic) "Fiodh na gCaor," which if you say it fast, sounds like "Vinegar." Hence, the name. We couldn't locate the exact area, so we went over to Sheila's house to visit some more and meet a few more relatives. Sheila, Jennifer, Brenna and I took a picture together.
A little later, Sheila took us to the exact location of Vinegar Hill, though we could find no house that might have been the Brennan homestead. Instead, there were several "newer" homes on the property. We drove Sheila back to her house and said another sad "good-bye" as the next day we would be flying home.
It's hard to put into words my feelings about this trip. I loved seeing my relatives, catching up on the past 37 years, laughing and talking about family members no longer here, and also doing some genealogical research. But nothing stays the same, and Lima is not the town I remember - at least, the old area where my grandparents once lived. The homes are in need of repair and I wonder how much longer they will stand. On the one hand, there was evidence of some construction and refurbishing about town, on the other, the industry that had made Lima a thriving city is gone. Lima was once a railroad town, and employed many people. It also had some oil wealth, but all of that seems to have disappeared, except for the occasional sound of a train whistle, as the few remaining trains work their way through town.
It was also bittersweet to be in the town of my parents' birth, childhood and adolescence, knowing they, as well as my grandparents, are no longer with us. There was a definite sense that much had changed and that, as a result of this trip, my memories were also going to be changed. I had a strong desire to find the money to renovate both of my grandparents' homes, and preserve them for another century, but that is simply impossible. You can't go backwards, no matter how hard you wish you could - for just a little while. And so I leave my reminiscing with one more photo - of the house where my parents lived when I was born.
This is my first home, the place where I joined the Mueller and Brennan families for the first time. It is a duplex that my parents shared with my aunt Kay, uncle Pete and their three oldest boys. Jim and I both lived there, as his mother was my aunt Kay, my mother's sister. I don't know which side of the house was ours. The house may be as worn as the other homes, but stories I have heard about it always make me smile. Like the time my 3 and 4 year old cousins got into their father's car, released the emergency brake and rolled the car out of the driveway. Apparently, they wanted to go to the store to buy bubble gum. And the time my mom and her sister let a cement truck dump a huge load of cement in front of the garage, so their husbands could use it to build a fence. It was much more cement than was needed, and it dried before the fence could be finished. The huge mound blocked access to the garage for the next year, until a tornado moved the garage. And the story my aunt Sheila (who was 6 years old when I was born) told me on this trip - that she and my grandmother used to walk to the house to see us, and they brought along Sheila's imaginary cat. Halfway there, she told my grandmother to pick up the cat and carry it, as it was tired.
So when I think of Lima, I will think of all the people I love, living and no longer with us, and I will smile when I remember the train whistle, and when I think of mischeivous kids in search of bubble gum, two young mothers and a pile of cement, and an imaginary cat that used to come to visit.
Then after lunch, my aunt Sheila and I spent a few hours looking through old family photographs. A few brought back memories. Others were of family members I never really knew. We spent the next day visiting with my uncle Tom, who is Sheila's brother, and part of his family, as well as Sheila and my cousin Jennifer. The visit was very moving. I hadn't seen my uncle since I was about 20, and I know he was thinking about his two brothers (one of them my father) who are gone. We had a good time, though, joking and laughing and getting re-aquainted. It was tough to say "good-bye."
After our visit, though, Tony and I cheered ourselves up by stopping for dinner at the Kewpee, a hamburger joint that was founded in Lima in 1926, the year my parents were born. It's still in its original location, with the same linoleum on the floor and the same vinyl countertops. It has a drive-through, and at the end of the drive-through lane is evidence of an old turntable which used to turn your car around in the cramped space so you could drive out.
It was odd to think that this same restaurant is where my mom and dad ate hamburgers as teenagers - long before the days of McDonald's.
On our final day in Lima, Tony and I drove around trying to locate the place where my great great grandparents had lived. They named the area "Vinegar Hill" after a famous battle in Ireland's tortured fight for independence. The location of the battle was a hill called (in Gaelic) "Fiodh na gCaor," which if you say it fast, sounds like "Vinegar." Hence, the name. We couldn't locate the exact area, so we went over to Sheila's house to visit some more and meet a few more relatives. Sheila, Jennifer, Brenna and I took a picture together.
A little later, Sheila took us to the exact location of Vinegar Hill, though we could find no house that might have been the Brennan homestead. Instead, there were several "newer" homes on the property. We drove Sheila back to her house and said another sad "good-bye" as the next day we would be flying home.
It's hard to put into words my feelings about this trip. I loved seeing my relatives, catching up on the past 37 years, laughing and talking about family members no longer here, and also doing some genealogical research. But nothing stays the same, and Lima is not the town I remember - at least, the old area where my grandparents once lived. The homes are in need of repair and I wonder how much longer they will stand. On the one hand, there was evidence of some construction and refurbishing about town, on the other, the industry that had made Lima a thriving city is gone. Lima was once a railroad town, and employed many people. It also had some oil wealth, but all of that seems to have disappeared, except for the occasional sound of a train whistle, as the few remaining trains work their way through town.
It was also bittersweet to be in the town of my parents' birth, childhood and adolescence, knowing they, as well as my grandparents, are no longer with us. There was a definite sense that much had changed and that, as a result of this trip, my memories were also going to be changed. I had a strong desire to find the money to renovate both of my grandparents' homes, and preserve them for another century, but that is simply impossible. You can't go backwards, no matter how hard you wish you could - for just a little while. And so I leave my reminiscing with one more photo - of the house where my parents lived when I was born.
This is my first home, the place where I joined the Mueller and Brennan families for the first time. It is a duplex that my parents shared with my aunt Kay, uncle Pete and their three oldest boys. Jim and I both lived there, as his mother was my aunt Kay, my mother's sister. I don't know which side of the house was ours. The house may be as worn as the other homes, but stories I have heard about it always make me smile. Like the time my 3 and 4 year old cousins got into their father's car, released the emergency brake and rolled the car out of the driveway. Apparently, they wanted to go to the store to buy bubble gum. And the time my mom and her sister let a cement truck dump a huge load of cement in front of the garage, so their husbands could use it to build a fence. It was much more cement than was needed, and it dried before the fence could be finished. The huge mound blocked access to the garage for the next year, until a tornado moved the garage. And the story my aunt Sheila (who was 6 years old when I was born) told me on this trip - that she and my grandmother used to walk to the house to see us, and they brought along Sheila's imaginary cat. Halfway there, she told my grandmother to pick up the cat and carry it, as it was tired.
So when I think of Lima, I will think of all the people I love, living and no longer with us, and I will smile when I remember the train whistle, and when I think of mischeivous kids in search of bubble gum, two young mothers and a pile of cement, and an imaginary cat that used to come to visit.
Friday, May 31, 2013
RETURN TO OHIO PART II
Wednesday morning we met my cousin Jim at his hotel and spent a little time looking over pictures and catching up on the past 40 years or so before heading out to visit a few cemeteries to look for the burial sites of our ancestors. We visited two cemeteries: St. John the Baptist in Landeck and St. John the Evangelist in Delphos. We found three couples who were our 2nd great grandparents: Johann Wagner (1821-1895) and his second wife Sophie; Nicholas (1832-1910) and Margaretha Mueller (1831-1892); and Hermann Frecker and his wife Bernadina Wrocklage:
We also found our great grandparents Charles and Susanna Mueller.
Their names (Ned and Mary) are not inscribed - only the Brennan surname and the dates of their deaths. But these are the correct dates and so I am certain this is the correct headstone.
After a very successful, albeit sad walk through the cemetery, we went to the Allen County Historical Society Museum and I copied some records from a Brennan file they have there. We also took pictures of exhibits in the museum and this one brought back memories:
When I was a little girl visiting my grandmother, I used to hear the horse-drawn milk cart coming down the street early in the morning. I don't know when they switched to actual milk trucks, but this type of vehicle was still being used when I was a small girl.
We met up with my cousin Tim in the museum and all piled in one car to drive around town and see the houses we remembered. Many of them needed paint and were not in good condition, but it brought back many memories.
Here's my Brennan grandparents' old house:
And my Grandma Bernie Mueller's house:
At Grandma Bernie's house, Jim and I rang the bell and Jim asked if we could come in and look around. Though the owner of the house looked suspicious, she graciously granted our request. It wasn't the same, of course, and the current owners had not done much to the inside or the outside to keep it in good condition, but nonetheless, it was quite an experience to be back in the house after nearly 50 years. (My grandmother died in that house a little over 50 years ago, in 1963.)
Here's a picture of our mothers when they were little girls, sitting on the front porch with their uncle Rod:
And here are Jim and me, sitting on that same porch a few days ago:
Only the railing has changed.
We also drove past my Schulien great grandparents' house, as well as a brick mansion once owned by wealthy friends of the family.
This house was in great shape, and Jim and I reminisced about the tunnel between the house and the four car garage. The tunnel was put in so that the couple who helped maintain the house, and who lived in an apartment above the garage, would not have to walk in the snow to reach the main house. I suppose it was also handy for the two bachelor owners of the house when they parked their cars in the garage in the winter.
We made a short visit to the house of my mother's cousin, Paul, who is 80 years old, and he told us some wonderful stories about the family, including the fact that my great grandmother, Mary Schulien, used to cook Sunday dinner for German prisoners of war who were living not far from Lima during WW II. Apparently the prisoners worked in her son's foundry during the week, and she was asked to cook them a German meal on the weekend.
Then it was time to say good-bye to both Jim and Tim, and spend a quiet evening trying to absorb all that we saw over the past two days. The days of visiting with my mother's family, and gathering information about her ancestors had come to an end and the next days would be spent with my father's family, visiting and catching up with the Brennans on the years we've been apart.
In the afternoon, we spent time in the Delphos Public Library, looking for any information on our families that had once lived there. Jim had been in the library the previous day, and was anxious to show me a binder full of information on the Wrocklage, Esch, Frecker and other families. He recognized some of his father's letters and his handwriting on other documents, and realized that this binder contained much information that we thought had been lost in the flood at the Ottawa Library. Somehow this small piece of the 6 binders his father had donated to the Ottawa library had been either transferred or copied and sent to Delphos. We were both thrilled and Jim convinced the librarian to copy the entire binder and send it to him for a fee. (Jim also offered a generous donation to the library.) After he receives the binder, he will make a second copy and send it to me. So this first day of research was quite successful.
On the second day of research, we spent time at Gethsamani Cemetery in Lima. Here we found the graves of all of our Schulien and Mueller relatives, including our grandparents, great grandparents, aunts and uncles, great aunts and great uncles. Here are our Mueller grandparents' headstones:
We also found the resting places of our great grandparents, Joseph and Mary Schulien, and our aunt Marcie and Uncle Charlie, as well as Jim's mother and three brothers.
Then I found the headstones of my Brennan grandparents and great grandparents, as well as my Brennan 2nd great grandparents, the immigrant couple, Ned and Mary Brennan, which I did not expect to find.
Their names (Ned and Mary) are not inscribed - only the Brennan surname and the dates of their deaths. But these are the correct dates and so I am certain this is the correct headstone.
After a very successful, albeit sad walk through the cemetery, we went to the Allen County Historical Society Museum and I copied some records from a Brennan file they have there. We also took pictures of exhibits in the museum and this one brought back memories:
When I was a little girl visiting my grandmother, I used to hear the horse-drawn milk cart coming down the street early in the morning. I don't know when they switched to actual milk trucks, but this type of vehicle was still being used when I was a small girl.
We met up with my cousin Tim in the museum and all piled in one car to drive around town and see the houses we remembered. Many of them needed paint and were not in good condition, but it brought back many memories.
Here's my Brennan grandparents' old house:
And my Grandma Bernie Mueller's house:
At Grandma Bernie's house, Jim and I rang the bell and Jim asked if we could come in and look around. Though the owner of the house looked suspicious, she graciously granted our request. It wasn't the same, of course, and the current owners had not done much to the inside or the outside to keep it in good condition, but nonetheless, it was quite an experience to be back in the house after nearly 50 years. (My grandmother died in that house a little over 50 years ago, in 1963.)
Here's a picture of our mothers when they were little girls, sitting on the front porch with their uncle Rod:
Only the railing has changed.
We also drove past my Schulien great grandparents' house, as well as a brick mansion once owned by wealthy friends of the family.
This house was in great shape, and Jim and I reminisced about the tunnel between the house and the four car garage. The tunnel was put in so that the couple who helped maintain the house, and who lived in an apartment above the garage, would not have to walk in the snow to reach the main house. I suppose it was also handy for the two bachelor owners of the house when they parked their cars in the garage in the winter.
We made a short visit to the house of my mother's cousin, Paul, who is 80 years old, and he told us some wonderful stories about the family, including the fact that my great grandmother, Mary Schulien, used to cook Sunday dinner for German prisoners of war who were living not far from Lima during WW II. Apparently the prisoners worked in her son's foundry during the week, and she was asked to cook them a German meal on the weekend.
Then it was time to say good-bye to both Jim and Tim, and spend a quiet evening trying to absorb all that we saw over the past two days. The days of visiting with my mother's family, and gathering information about her ancestors had come to an end and the next days would be spent with my father's family, visiting and catching up with the Brennans on the years we've been apart.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
RETURN TO OHIO
It had been 37 years since I was last in lima, Ohio, the place of my parents' birth as well as mine. All of my ancestors from the last several generations lived in Ohio, and many immigrated directly there from either Ireland or Germany or Belgium. The last time I was in Lima, my aunts Marcie and Kay were still alive and well, and my Brennan grandparents were thriving. Now, they are all gone, along with my uncles Al and Bill, and my cousins Mark, Steve, and Greg. So it was a different Lima to which I returned. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
My trip actually began on Saturday, May 18, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where I visited my 3rd cousin on my dad's side of the family, Kathy Brennan. I've only known Kathy for a few years, having heard about her from my parents who met her several years before they died. I had never actually met her, however, but as we share many interests, are both Brennans, and love Ireland, I was anxious to spend some time with her. We only had one day together, but it was a great one - sharing stories and pictures, dreaming about returning to Ireland, and having a wonderful tour of Ann Arbor. We ate at Zingerman's famous deli, and walked around the Arboretum, where a large peony garden (800 plants) was just getting ready to bloom. How I wished we could have seen it just two weeks later.
I was also thrilled to see all the lilacs in bloom, and when I looked down, I saw carpets of Lilies of the Valley.
Here's a picture of me and Kathy and my husband, Tony in front of the peony garden.
It was a wonderful visit, but a short one, because the next day we were headed to Toledo for a reunion with my Mueller cousins at the home of my Schulien cousin, Tim (all on my mom's side of the family). Tim had prepared a wonderful German meal for us and showed us around his beautiful home, full of antiques and family memorabilia. We shared stories and pictures while we waited for Pat and Fran to arrive and when they did, we had more catching up to do.
Tim is my second cousin, and he shares my interest in genealogy, as does my first cousin, Jim, who will appear in a later blog. (Tim is also a great cook and musician.) Pat, on the left, and Fran, standing behind me, are sisters, the two daughters of my uncle Al Mueller. Fran is named after my mother. It was great to see all of them. And just behind Tim is the wedding portrait of our great grandparents, Joseph and Mary Schulien, or as everyone called them, "Mawmaw" and "Pawpaw."
We stayed at a 125 year old Victorian inn in Toledo, thanks to my cousin Tim who works there.
The next day, Tim, Tony and I headed for Bowling Green University to do some genealogy research. BGU has the records from the Catholic Churches at Delphos, Landeck, and Lima, where most of my relatives lived at one time. We hunched over the microfilm reader for hours, and found many interesting records, including all the baptismal records of the children of Ned and Mary Brennan, my immigrant great great grandparents. Dinner that evening was at a Lebanese restaurant - yum!
The next morning, after breakfast with Tim, we were off to our final destination: Lima. We arrived around noon at my aunt Sheila's house, visited for a time, and then left to check in at our hotel. Later that evening Sheila, her husband Joe, Tony and I went to dinner at Milano's, a favorite of my parents whenever they visited Lima.
The next two days would be spent with my cousin Jim, doing genealogy research, then the final three days with my Brennan relatives. I'll write about that, and offer some final thoughts about the trip, in the coming days.
My trip actually began on Saturday, May 18, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where I visited my 3rd cousin on my dad's side of the family, Kathy Brennan. I've only known Kathy for a few years, having heard about her from my parents who met her several years before they died. I had never actually met her, however, but as we share many interests, are both Brennans, and love Ireland, I was anxious to spend some time with her. We only had one day together, but it was a great one - sharing stories and pictures, dreaming about returning to Ireland, and having a wonderful tour of Ann Arbor. We ate at Zingerman's famous deli, and walked around the Arboretum, where a large peony garden (800 plants) was just getting ready to bloom. How I wished we could have seen it just two weeks later.
I was also thrilled to see all the lilacs in bloom, and when I looked down, I saw carpets of Lilies of the Valley.
Here's a picture of me and Kathy and my husband, Tony in front of the peony garden.
It was a wonderful visit, but a short one, because the next day we were headed to Toledo for a reunion with my Mueller cousins at the home of my Schulien cousin, Tim (all on my mom's side of the family). Tim had prepared a wonderful German meal for us and showed us around his beautiful home, full of antiques and family memorabilia. We shared stories and pictures while we waited for Pat and Fran to arrive and when they did, we had more catching up to do.
Tim is my second cousin, and he shares my interest in genealogy, as does my first cousin, Jim, who will appear in a later blog. (Tim is also a great cook and musician.) Pat, on the left, and Fran, standing behind me, are sisters, the two daughters of my uncle Al Mueller. Fran is named after my mother. It was great to see all of them. And just behind Tim is the wedding portrait of our great grandparents, Joseph and Mary Schulien, or as everyone called them, "Mawmaw" and "Pawpaw."
We stayed at a 125 year old Victorian inn in Toledo, thanks to my cousin Tim who works there.
The next day, Tim, Tony and I headed for Bowling Green University to do some genealogy research. BGU has the records from the Catholic Churches at Delphos, Landeck, and Lima, where most of my relatives lived at one time. We hunched over the microfilm reader for hours, and found many interesting records, including all the baptismal records of the children of Ned and Mary Brennan, my immigrant great great grandparents. Dinner that evening was at a Lebanese restaurant - yum!
The next morning, after breakfast with Tim, we were off to our final destination: Lima. We arrived around noon at my aunt Sheila's house, visited for a time, and then left to check in at our hotel. Later that evening Sheila, her husband Joe, Tony and I went to dinner at Milano's, a favorite of my parents whenever they visited Lima.
The next two days would be spent with my cousin Jim, doing genealogy research, then the final three days with my Brennan relatives. I'll write about that, and offer some final thoughts about the trip, in the coming days.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
SUCCESS!
Well, the Croatian family reunion was yesterday and it was a phenomenal success. We had close to 120 people there, enough to fill two rooms of the San Antonio Winery in Los Angeles. A few of us who planned the event got there early:
First, everyone had to check in and get their name tag:
Then it was on to the buffet line to choose a meal from one of 2 dozen selections. While everyone was eating, we were entertained by Tamburitza musicians, many of whom are members of the family:
Over their heads, you can see a screen where we had an ongoing slide show of pictures of family members, living and deceased. It was one of the big hits of the day.
Then the family introductions began. At 90 years of age, here's the oldest family member present - Kuzma Domancich:
Here's one of several lively octogenarians: Annie, one of my favorite people. In a number of ways, she reminds me of my mother.
There was a family comedian who gave us an amusing lesson in Croatian, then told many stories from his "Croatian" childhood. It was hard to hear him, though, as everyone wanted to talk with everyone else. So while he continued, people watched, some listened, but many just wanted to visit.
Here's my husband, Tony, with his sister, Stephany, his mother, Phyllis (88 years old) and his nephew Jay.
Here's my nephew Ben and my son Jeff (with the beard):
Here are the Silmans:
And the Sherers:
Here's my granddaughters standing in front of some of the family posters:
And my son-in-law and grandson, who is preparing to take pictures:
After the introductions and presentations, the band returned and the Kolo dancing began:
And it continued:
Two grandnieces of ours, Savannah and Stephany, tried to entice their cousin Mason to join in the dancing, but he was having none of it:
Finally, after door prizes and a final good-bye, a group stayed for a winery tour and we packed up to leave.
It was a wonderful, exhausting day, one I'm sure everyone will remember for a long time.
First, everyone had to check in and get their name tag:
Then it was on to the buffet line to choose a meal from one of 2 dozen selections. While everyone was eating, we were entertained by Tamburitza musicians, many of whom are members of the family:
Over their heads, you can see a screen where we had an ongoing slide show of pictures of family members, living and deceased. It was one of the big hits of the day.
Then the family introductions began. At 90 years of age, here's the oldest family member present - Kuzma Domancich:
Here's one of several lively octogenarians: Annie, one of my favorite people. In a number of ways, she reminds me of my mother.
There was a family comedian who gave us an amusing lesson in Croatian, then told many stories from his "Croatian" childhood. It was hard to hear him, though, as everyone wanted to talk with everyone else. So while he continued, people watched, some listened, but many just wanted to visit.
Here's my husband, Tony, with his sister, Stephany, his mother, Phyllis (88 years old) and his nephew Jay.
Here's my nephew Ben and my son Jeff (with the beard):
Here are the Silmans:
And the Sherers:
Here's my granddaughters standing in front of some of the family posters:
After the introductions and presentations, the band returned and the Kolo dancing began:
And it continued:
Two grandnieces of ours, Savannah and Stephany, tried to entice their cousin Mason to join in the dancing, but he was having none of it:
Finally, after door prizes and a final good-bye, a group stayed for a winery tour and we packed up to leave.
It was a wonderful, exhausting day, one I'm sure everyone will remember for a long time.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
KEEPING IT ALL STRAIGHT
It's a bit of organized chaos around my house these days - organized because that's how I try to be - and chaos because there's too much to keep organized.
Two big reunions are coming up, as I've mentioned before, but now they're just one week and three weeks away and the biggest source of chaos is trying to organize all the family pictures and keep them straight.
The first reunion is with my husband's Croatian family, and there will be six main families represented, all related to each other by birth or marriage. The names of the six families are: Gavran, Domancich, Bezmalinovich, Ozurovic, Eterovich and Yeseta. Keeping the spelling of the names right is difficult enough. Try figuring out how to pronounce them! I've been putting together a slide show of as many family members as I can, and creating the program. We'll be having Tamburitza music, Kolo dancing lessons, a Croatian language lesson, a great meal at a winery, and plenty of time to socialize and become acquainted or re-aquainted with other family members. We'll have 135 people there - ranging in age from a few months to 90 years old. Here's a few pictures from those I've gathered. The first is my husband's great grandmother, Antonia, who remained in Croatia. The second is of the wedding of a distant cousin.
In addition to getting all of those pictures together, however, I've been gathering pictures to share with my relatives in Ohio, where we'll be visiting in just 3 weeks. These are folks I haven't seen in over 30 years. We have a lot of catching up to do, and I have been organizing pictures of 4 different families: Brennan, Shaw, Mueller and Schulien. Here's a few:
The first picture is of my Brennan grandparents's generation - with my dad as a child in front to the right. His twin brothers Tom and Bill are next to him. The second picture is also my dad's family. His father is on the left and he is sitting above to his father's right. My grandmother is next to him and my mother is behind her. I am third from the left in the front, the kid with the bangs. My uncles Tom and Bill are to the right. Sadly, my uncle Bill (on the top right) died last week, but I hope to visit my uncle Tom.
Here are a few pictures of my Mueller Schulien family:
The first picture shows my Grandparents, Alfred and Mary Bernadine (Schulien) Mueller with their oldest three children (before my mother was born). The second shows my Great Grandmother (on the right, holding a baby) and my Grandmother Mary Bernadine Schulien to her left.
I love these pictures. Some bring back memories and some just pique my imagination. Maybe on my trip to Lima, I can gather even more pictures, to put in a future family history book.
Stay tuned!
Two big reunions are coming up, as I've mentioned before, but now they're just one week and three weeks away and the biggest source of chaos is trying to organize all the family pictures and keep them straight.
The first reunion is with my husband's Croatian family, and there will be six main families represented, all related to each other by birth or marriage. The names of the six families are: Gavran, Domancich, Bezmalinovich, Ozurovic, Eterovich and Yeseta. Keeping the spelling of the names right is difficult enough. Try figuring out how to pronounce them! I've been putting together a slide show of as many family members as I can, and creating the program. We'll be having Tamburitza music, Kolo dancing lessons, a Croatian language lesson, a great meal at a winery, and plenty of time to socialize and become acquainted or re-aquainted with other family members. We'll have 135 people there - ranging in age from a few months to 90 years old. Here's a few pictures from those I've gathered. The first is my husband's great grandmother, Antonia, who remained in Croatia. The second is of the wedding of a distant cousin.
In addition to getting all of those pictures together, however, I've been gathering pictures to share with my relatives in Ohio, where we'll be visiting in just 3 weeks. These are folks I haven't seen in over 30 years. We have a lot of catching up to do, and I have been organizing pictures of 4 different families: Brennan, Shaw, Mueller and Schulien. Here's a few:
The first picture is of my Brennan grandparents's generation - with my dad as a child in front to the right. His twin brothers Tom and Bill are next to him. The second picture is also my dad's family. His father is on the left and he is sitting above to his father's right. My grandmother is next to him and my mother is behind her. I am third from the left in the front, the kid with the bangs. My uncles Tom and Bill are to the right. Sadly, my uncle Bill (on the top right) died last week, but I hope to visit my uncle Tom.
Here are a few pictures of my Mueller Schulien family:
The first picture shows my Grandparents, Alfred and Mary Bernadine (Schulien) Mueller with their oldest three children (before my mother was born). The second shows my Great Grandmother (on the right, holding a baby) and my Grandmother Mary Bernadine Schulien to her left.
I love these pictures. Some bring back memories and some just pique my imagination. Maybe on my trip to Lima, I can gather even more pictures, to put in a future family history book.
Stay tuned!
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
REUNION
My husband and I are getting ready for our May trip to Ohio.
This will be my first trip back to the state of my birth in about 35 years. I'm really looking forward to it, but I'm not sure how I'm going to fit in everything I want to do and everyone I want to see.
Since all of my ancestors settled in Ohio at one time or another, Ohio is the hub of all my genealogical work. But more importantly, Ohio is where many of my relatives live. Most important are my aunt Sheila and Uncle Tom, and my cousins from Ohio and Michigan. I am really looking forward to seeing them and as many members of their families as I can. I have so many fond memories of being with them when I was a child, and I can't wait to see them again. We have so many things to catch up on.
But as long as I'm going to be there, I want to do a little genealogy work. There's a library in Lima that may have some records, as well as a library in Delphos. There's Bowling Green University which contains some church records I'm interested in. There are cemeteries to visit, and a drive around Lima to see old landmarks, like the homes of my two grandparents, the home I lived in as a small child, and the Kewpie, a hamburger restaurant that pre-dates McDonald's.
There are also photographs to gather, stories to record, and hopefully a few meetings with extended family members I've never met.
I can't wait!
This will be my first trip back to the state of my birth in about 35 years. I'm really looking forward to it, but I'm not sure how I'm going to fit in everything I want to do and everyone I want to see.
Since all of my ancestors settled in Ohio at one time or another, Ohio is the hub of all my genealogical work. But more importantly, Ohio is where many of my relatives live. Most important are my aunt Sheila and Uncle Tom, and my cousins from Ohio and Michigan. I am really looking forward to seeing them and as many members of their families as I can. I have so many fond memories of being with them when I was a child, and I can't wait to see them again. We have so many things to catch up on.
But as long as I'm going to be there, I want to do a little genealogy work. There's a library in Lima that may have some records, as well as a library in Delphos. There's Bowling Green University which contains some church records I'm interested in. There are cemeteries to visit, and a drive around Lima to see old landmarks, like the homes of my two grandparents, the home I lived in as a small child, and the Kewpie, a hamburger restaurant that pre-dates McDonald's.
There are also photographs to gather, stories to record, and hopefully a few meetings with extended family members I've never met.
I can't wait!
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Looking for Miracles Online
I've been extraordinarily lucky in my genealogy research in that my ancestors and my husband's ancestors have been fairly easy to locate via online resources.
Both sides of my family settled in Ohio, the majority of them in Lima, Ohio, and for some reason the records of Ohio, in general, and Lima, in particular, are quite accessible. I have been able to access death certificates on line for most of my ancestors who died in Ohio, which is something not available for most other states. Also, all of the editions of the Lima News, from the turn of the last century to about 1965, are available online. I have found weddings, funerals, obituaries, engagements, divorces, births, and other interesting tidbits about my family. Many other ancestors lived in Delphos, Ohio, a short distance from Lima, and all of their burial records from two cemeteries are available online. Ohio really has its act together as far as genealogists are concerned.
Regarding my husband's family, his father's ancestors all emigrated from Croatia in the early 1900s, after the opening of Ellis Island, so all of their immigration and naturalization records are online. Shortly after arriving, they all came to California, where birth records are available online from 1905 until 1995. When I decided to try to find the ancestors in Croatia, I was forturnate to find that all church records from the 1700s on are held in one location in Zagreb, and so I hired a researcher to locate them. With all these resources, I have been able to put together a nearly complete family tree from the 1700s until today.
My husband's mother's ancestors were also easy to locate. One maternal grandfather's ancestors are all identified in a book written in the 1980s by two very diligent researchers. And one maternal grandmother's ancestors have been traced to the Mayflower. (Many Mayflower descendants are meticulous genealogists.)
So, all in all, I have found thousands of my own and my husband's ancestors quite easily. Although it has been time consuming, and is ongoing, the search at least has been productive. There are only a few lines that remain at a dead end.
One is the Brennan line, which ends in Ireland with the name of only one ancestor: Edward Brennan. He would be my 3rd great grandfather, the father of Ned Brennan, who emigrated to America with his wife, Mary Fahey in 1861. I have no definitive name for Edward's wife, nor his date and place of birth. Here is where my genealogical luck has run out, for not only are there no records online for Edward Brennan, there are probably no records, period. Most census records before 1901 were destroyed by the government on purpose, or by accident in a fire in 1923.
Likewise, some of my mother's German ancestors remain unknown, particularly the ancestors of her great grandfather, Hermann Henry Frecker, born around 1830. Germany's records are not centralized like those in Croatia, so you must know the exact town in which your ancestor was born. I have a general idea of his place of birth, but I am unsure of the exact town. Without that, I would have to hire someone, or visit Germany myself, and look through records in dozens of towns. This could be a very long endeavor, one I'm not sure I want to take up.
So every few months I google Herman Henry Frecker and Edward Brennan, with appropriate dates, hoping for a miracle, wishing for something new to pop up. After all, Google's mission is to catalog and put online all the information in the world, so someday maybe some information will surface about the ancestors of these men.
Or maybe once my husband retires next year, we can take up temporary residence in Germany, and then move on to Ireland for a few months. Even if I find nothing, I can think of far worse ways to spend my time and money.
Both sides of my family settled in Ohio, the majority of them in Lima, Ohio, and for some reason the records of Ohio, in general, and Lima, in particular, are quite accessible. I have been able to access death certificates on line for most of my ancestors who died in Ohio, which is something not available for most other states. Also, all of the editions of the Lima News, from the turn of the last century to about 1965, are available online. I have found weddings, funerals, obituaries, engagements, divorces, births, and other interesting tidbits about my family. Many other ancestors lived in Delphos, Ohio, a short distance from Lima, and all of their burial records from two cemeteries are available online. Ohio really has its act together as far as genealogists are concerned.
Regarding my husband's family, his father's ancestors all emigrated from Croatia in the early 1900s, after the opening of Ellis Island, so all of their immigration and naturalization records are online. Shortly after arriving, they all came to California, where birth records are available online from 1905 until 1995. When I decided to try to find the ancestors in Croatia, I was forturnate to find that all church records from the 1700s on are held in one location in Zagreb, and so I hired a researcher to locate them. With all these resources, I have been able to put together a nearly complete family tree from the 1700s until today.
My husband's mother's ancestors were also easy to locate. One maternal grandfather's ancestors are all identified in a book written in the 1980s by two very diligent researchers. And one maternal grandmother's ancestors have been traced to the Mayflower. (Many Mayflower descendants are meticulous genealogists.)
So, all in all, I have found thousands of my own and my husband's ancestors quite easily. Although it has been time consuming, and is ongoing, the search at least has been productive. There are only a few lines that remain at a dead end.
One is the Brennan line, which ends in Ireland with the name of only one ancestor: Edward Brennan. He would be my 3rd great grandfather, the father of Ned Brennan, who emigrated to America with his wife, Mary Fahey in 1861. I have no definitive name for Edward's wife, nor his date and place of birth. Here is where my genealogical luck has run out, for not only are there no records online for Edward Brennan, there are probably no records, period. Most census records before 1901 were destroyed by the government on purpose, or by accident in a fire in 1923.
Likewise, some of my mother's German ancestors remain unknown, particularly the ancestors of her great grandfather, Hermann Henry Frecker, born around 1830. Germany's records are not centralized like those in Croatia, so you must know the exact town in which your ancestor was born. I have a general idea of his place of birth, but I am unsure of the exact town. Without that, I would have to hire someone, or visit Germany myself, and look through records in dozens of towns. This could be a very long endeavor, one I'm not sure I want to take up.
So every few months I google Herman Henry Frecker and Edward Brennan, with appropriate dates, hoping for a miracle, wishing for something new to pop up. After all, Google's mission is to catalog and put online all the information in the world, so someday maybe some information will surface about the ancestors of these men.
Or maybe once my husband retires next year, we can take up temporary residence in Germany, and then move on to Ireland for a few months. Even if I find nothing, I can think of far worse ways to spend my time and money.
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