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.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Thursday, January 31, 2013
The Peter Mueller Mystery Solved (I hope)
My mother's maiden name was Mueller. Her father was Alfred or A.J. Mueller, who died when she was only 3 years old. After that, her family kept in touch with the Mueller extended family, but since they lived in another city, and since her father was deceased, the families eventually grew apart. Obviously, I never knew my grandfather and as far as I can recall, never met any Muellers other than my mother's siblings and my Mueller cousins, the children of her brother Al. Still, I have been trying to become acquainted with my Mueller ancestors and in doing so have been grappling with a mystery of two Peter Muellers, born, it seems, within a year of each other, both in the month of October.
At first, I thought there was only one Peter Mueller, born in either 1873 or 1874. Dates are often confusing if you go by census records so it was understandable that two Peter Muellers with birthdates in this time frame might merge into one - which is exactly what has happened on ancestry.com. It seems I'm not the only one who's been confused.
The Peter Mueller I was researching was an uncle of A.J. Mueller, my grandfather. In other words, he was the brother of Charles Mueller, my great grandfather. The records I found indicated he married a woman named Mary K. Wenning and was the father of 8 or 9 children. This made sense since in the census records this family lives just down the road from my great grandfather, and Peter's supposed brother Charles. So I was happily researching the family, finding a number of interesting details regarding intermarriages between many German families in the region, when I took a break and began looking through some papers I recently discovered - typed pages regarding the Muellers, with some notes in my mother's handwriting. According to these records, Peter Mueller, the brother of Charles Mueller (my great grandfather) married a woman named Ida Hodde and they had only one child. If this was true, then there obviously were two Peter Muellers, seemingly born a year apart. On the other hand, my mother could have been wrong.
So I began searching for another Peter Mueller, married to Ida Hodde, and I found him. It took me two days of searching grave records, census records, death records, and newspaper articles before I was able to confirm that there were two men with the same name. One thing that gave it away was that on one census record the first Peter (married to Mary) listed his mother as "Catherine," and I knew that Peter who was the brother of Charles did not have a mother named Catherine. His mother's name was Margaret. Then I found a death record that listed the father of a Peter Paul Mueller as "John." So it seemed this first Peter (who I orginally and mistakenly thought was the uncle of my grandfather) was the son of Catherine and John. Who was this John Mueller?
It turns out that John was the half brother of Nicholas, the father of Charles and the Peter Mueller who married Ida. John married a woman named Catherine Wagner and they had four children, including Peter Paul, before John died in 1875. This Peter P. is the one who married Mary K. Wenning and had a large family. So the two Peter Muellers are actually cousins, or perhaps, 1/2 cousins.
Another interesting tidbit - my grandfather Charles married Susanna Wagner, who is apparently the sister of Catherine Wagner, who married John Mueller, the uncle of Charles.
At first, I thought there was only one Peter Mueller, born in either 1873 or 1874. Dates are often confusing if you go by census records so it was understandable that two Peter Muellers with birthdates in this time frame might merge into one - which is exactly what has happened on ancestry.com. It seems I'm not the only one who's been confused.
The Peter Mueller I was researching was an uncle of A.J. Mueller, my grandfather. In other words, he was the brother of Charles Mueller, my great grandfather. The records I found indicated he married a woman named Mary K. Wenning and was the father of 8 or 9 children. This made sense since in the census records this family lives just down the road from my great grandfather, and Peter's supposed brother Charles. So I was happily researching the family, finding a number of interesting details regarding intermarriages between many German families in the region, when I took a break and began looking through some papers I recently discovered - typed pages regarding the Muellers, with some notes in my mother's handwriting. According to these records, Peter Mueller, the brother of Charles Mueller (my great grandfather) married a woman named Ida Hodde and they had only one child. If this was true, then there obviously were two Peter Muellers, seemingly born a year apart. On the other hand, my mother could have been wrong.
So I began searching for another Peter Mueller, married to Ida Hodde, and I found him. It took me two days of searching grave records, census records, death records, and newspaper articles before I was able to confirm that there were two men with the same name. One thing that gave it away was that on one census record the first Peter (married to Mary) listed his mother as "Catherine," and I knew that Peter who was the brother of Charles did not have a mother named Catherine. His mother's name was Margaret. Then I found a death record that listed the father of a Peter Paul Mueller as "John." So it seemed this first Peter (who I orginally and mistakenly thought was the uncle of my grandfather) was the son of Catherine and John. Who was this John Mueller?
It turns out that John was the half brother of Nicholas, the father of Charles and the Peter Mueller who married Ida. John married a woman named Catherine Wagner and they had four children, including Peter Paul, before John died in 1875. This Peter P. is the one who married Mary K. Wenning and had a large family. So the two Peter Muellers are actually cousins, or perhaps, 1/2 cousins.
Another interesting tidbit - my grandfather Charles married Susanna Wagner, who is apparently the sister of Catherine Wagner, who married John Mueller, the uncle of Charles.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Family Reunions
The deficit in posts recently has been due to business - not a loss of interest in genealogy. In fact, much of the business has to do with genealogy.
Two family reunions are coming up that I want to mention. First, on May 4th, the Croatian clan is getting together in Los Angeles. There will be representatives (hopefully) of six different families: Eterovich (Terich); Yeseta; Domancich; Ozurovich; Bezmalinovich; and Gavran. Interestingly, there is at least one member, and sometimes more, of each family that married someone in at least one of the other families. So at the reunion, most everyone will be related to everyone else either by birth or by marriage. We should have a good turnout and a lot of fun. I hope to post a lot of pictures afterwards and will keep you informed of the plans.
The second reunion will be more informal and will not occur on just one day. My husband and I will be traveling to Michigan and Ohio in mid-May and will visit with relatives on both sides of my family. While the main reason for the visit will be to reconnect with people I haven't seen in 30 years, I will also take advantage of the visit to spend a little time on genealogy. There are libraries that have crucial collections to study my family's ancestry, and of course there are relatives with lots of knowledge of the family.
So I'm looking forward to lots of fun and lots of genealogy discoveries in the New Year.
Two family reunions are coming up that I want to mention. First, on May 4th, the Croatian clan is getting together in Los Angeles. There will be representatives (hopefully) of six different families: Eterovich (Terich); Yeseta; Domancich; Ozurovich; Bezmalinovich; and Gavran. Interestingly, there is at least one member, and sometimes more, of each family that married someone in at least one of the other families. So at the reunion, most everyone will be related to everyone else either by birth or by marriage. We should have a good turnout and a lot of fun. I hope to post a lot of pictures afterwards and will keep you informed of the plans.
The second reunion will be more informal and will not occur on just one day. My husband and I will be traveling to Michigan and Ohio in mid-May and will visit with relatives on both sides of my family. While the main reason for the visit will be to reconnect with people I haven't seen in 30 years, I will also take advantage of the visit to spend a little time on genealogy. There are libraries that have crucial collections to study my family's ancestry, and of course there are relatives with lots of knowledge of the family.
So I'm looking forward to lots of fun and lots of genealogy discoveries in the New Year.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Small World
I had put up some new names on the Brennan-Mueller family tree - descendants of Ned Brennan (my father's family) who would be my 3rd cousins. I had never met these cousins, and had actually never heard their names, even though they live in Lima, Ohio, the town where my parents and I were born and where they lived until their early twenties. Then, during a phone conversation with Tim, a second cousin on my mother's side of the family, I learned something fascinating.
Tim happened to mention the surname of the family I had just added to my tree, not knowing about my connection to them, so I said "those are my relatives." He seemed surprised, then begin reciting the names of the children in this family - all 12 of them. Turns out he had gone to school with some of them, and knew their mother as well. She had been a friend of his mother, and he told me, she had been a friend of my mother as well.
I wondered aloud if my mother realized that her friend was related to my dad. He said he was sure she knew as those Irish clans are pretty tight.
Lima is really not that large of a town. Most of the residents belong to either a large Irish family, a large Italian one, or a large German one. At least, that was the case when my parents lived there. So I suppose my mother knew - although I had never heard of this family before, so perhaps she didn't. People don't always keep track of their second and third cousins.
Anyway, my husband and I are visiting Lima this spring, so perhaps I can visit with the woman who once knew my mother and find out.
The list of relatives I want to see is growing longer and longer.
Tim happened to mention the surname of the family I had just added to my tree, not knowing about my connection to them, so I said "those are my relatives." He seemed surprised, then begin reciting the names of the children in this family - all 12 of them. Turns out he had gone to school with some of them, and knew their mother as well. She had been a friend of his mother, and he told me, she had been a friend of my mother as well.
I wondered aloud if my mother realized that her friend was related to my dad. He said he was sure she knew as those Irish clans are pretty tight.
Lima is really not that large of a town. Most of the residents belong to either a large Irish family, a large Italian one, or a large German one. At least, that was the case when my parents lived there. So I suppose my mother knew - although I had never heard of this family before, so perhaps she didn't. People don't always keep track of their second and third cousins.
Anyway, my husband and I are visiting Lima this spring, so perhaps I can visit with the woman who once knew my mother and find out.
The list of relatives I want to see is growing longer and longer.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
DNA RESULTS
My DNA results are in and they are largely what I expected. My ancestry is 51 percent Central European - which includes Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, and Luxembourg. Since nearly all the ancestors on my mother's side are from Germany and Belgium, this isn't surprising.
Also not surprising is the fact that 38 percent of my ancestry is from the British Isles, which includes England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. On my father's side, there are many ancestors from Ireland as well as England.
The one surprise is that 8 percent of my ancestry is from Eastern Europe, an area that includes Poland, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Belarus and Ukraine, among other countries. Since I have not identified any ancestors who came from this area, some early ancestors must have migrated from there to either Germany, Belgium, England or Ireland quite a long time ago. The information provided regarding the DNA results states that your personal DNA sample may include DNA that is not reflected in your family tree because it dates from thousands of years ago.
There are a few empty spaces on my family tree. I have one great great grandfather on my father's side that I have been unable to identify, and one set of great great great grandparents on my mother's side who are not identified. In addition, there are many ancestors who go back further than that who remain unidentified.
Although my husband has not had his DNA analyzed, we already know we share roots from the British Isles and Central Europe, as he has ancestors from England and Switzerland. We now know we share Eastern European roots. His results, were he to have his DNA analyzed, would show at least 25 percent Eastern European Ancestry and probably the same from the British Isles.
I was a little disappointed that there was no Native American ancestry as I had heard occasional rumors of that possibility. But there is 3 percent of my DNA that is labeled "uncertain," so perhaps that is still possible.
As part of the report I was given the names of other family trees on ancestry that contain, with 95 percent certainty, some of my distant cousins. Now I will decide whether or not to reach out to any of them. Perhaps they will be able to provide more clues to solve the remaining family mysteries.
Also not surprising is the fact that 38 percent of my ancestry is from the British Isles, which includes England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. On my father's side, there are many ancestors from Ireland as well as England.
The one surprise is that 8 percent of my ancestry is from Eastern Europe, an area that includes Poland, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Belarus and Ukraine, among other countries. Since I have not identified any ancestors who came from this area, some early ancestors must have migrated from there to either Germany, Belgium, England or Ireland quite a long time ago. The information provided regarding the DNA results states that your personal DNA sample may include DNA that is not reflected in your family tree because it dates from thousands of years ago.
There are a few empty spaces on my family tree. I have one great great grandfather on my father's side that I have been unable to identify, and one set of great great great grandparents on my mother's side who are not identified. In addition, there are many ancestors who go back further than that who remain unidentified.
Although my husband has not had his DNA analyzed, we already know we share roots from the British Isles and Central Europe, as he has ancestors from England and Switzerland. We now know we share Eastern European roots. His results, were he to have his DNA analyzed, would show at least 25 percent Eastern European Ancestry and probably the same from the British Isles.
I was a little disappointed that there was no Native American ancestry as I had heard occasional rumors of that possibility. But there is 3 percent of my DNA that is labeled "uncertain," so perhaps that is still possible.
As part of the report I was given the names of other family trees on ancestry that contain, with 95 percent certainty, some of my distant cousins. Now I will decide whether or not to reach out to any of them. Perhaps they will be able to provide more clues to solve the remaining family mysteries.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
DNA
I took advantage of a special offer by ancestry.com and am having my DNA analyzed. Here's the kit that they sent me to collect a sample of saliva.
It's a simple procedure. You just collect a small sample of saliva, seal the sample up in a special bag and enclose it in the pre-addressed and stampled padded envelope.
I've already received notice that they received my sample and will send me my results via email in 4 to 6 weeks.
So what can I expect to learn? First, I will learn the various ethnicities that make up my ancestral history. While I already have a pretty good idea of who my ancestors were and the countries they came from, there may be some surprises - perhaps I'll find that rumored but unknown Native American ancestor. Or I might find that some ancestors came from Eastern Europe before they made their way to the British Isles or Germany.
I'll also be directed to potential ancestors on other ancestry.com family trees who share some of my DNA patterns.
I don't really expect any surprises, but I'm anxious to see the results nonetheless. It's just one more clue to solving the family mystery.
It's a simple procedure. You just collect a small sample of saliva, seal the sample up in a special bag and enclose it in the pre-addressed and stampled padded envelope.
I've already received notice that they received my sample and will send me my results via email in 4 to 6 weeks.
So what can I expect to learn? First, I will learn the various ethnicities that make up my ancestral history. While I already have a pretty good idea of who my ancestors were and the countries they came from, there may be some surprises - perhaps I'll find that rumored but unknown Native American ancestor. Or I might find that some ancestors came from Eastern Europe before they made their way to the British Isles or Germany.
I'll also be directed to potential ancestors on other ancestry.com family trees who share some of my DNA patterns.
I don't really expect any surprises, but I'm anxious to see the results nonetheless. It's just one more clue to solving the family mystery.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
The Book is Finished
A few days after we returned from Ireland, the completed family history books were delivered.
After nearly two years of research and writing, it was gratifying to see the finished product.
The book contains several sections, including sections on the ancestors and descendants of Anton Eterovich (Terich) and Madalena Yeseta, my husband's grandparents. It also includes sections on their brothers and sisters, and their descendants, complete with pictures. There is a section on the history of the island of Brac as well as a section on the history of Bohemia, the two places from which the ancestors came. There is also a section on Croatian immigration and a description of Los Angeles in 1910, when most of the Croatian ancestors arrived. In the center of the book are 9 pages of wedding photos spanning a century. Finally, there is a large section on Croatian recipes.
After receiving the books, I prepared them for mailing. Earlier, I had recieved checks from the relatives for the book and postage. Nearly 40 relatives asked to have the book mailed, so on a Saturday, my husband and I carted 4 boxes of books in padded envelopes into the local Post Office. Since then, I have heard from a number of relatives who are thrilled with the book.
I have also personally delivered a few of the books and my husband and I will be going to a book signing party this Sunday. I'm really looking forward to that.
In future posts I will outline how I went about researching, writing and designing the book, for any of you who might be interested in writing a book of your own.
After nearly two years of research and writing, it was gratifying to see the finished product.
The book contains several sections, including sections on the ancestors and descendants of Anton Eterovich (Terich) and Madalena Yeseta, my husband's grandparents. It also includes sections on their brothers and sisters, and their descendants, complete with pictures. There is a section on the history of the island of Brac as well as a section on the history of Bohemia, the two places from which the ancestors came. There is also a section on Croatian immigration and a description of Los Angeles in 1910, when most of the Croatian ancestors arrived. In the center of the book are 9 pages of wedding photos spanning a century. Finally, there is a large section on Croatian recipes.
After receiving the books, I prepared them for mailing. Earlier, I had recieved checks from the relatives for the book and postage. Nearly 40 relatives asked to have the book mailed, so on a Saturday, my husband and I carted 4 boxes of books in padded envelopes into the local Post Office. Since then, I have heard from a number of relatives who are thrilled with the book.
I have also personally delivered a few of the books and my husband and I will be going to a book signing party this Sunday. I'm really looking forward to that.
In future posts I will outline how I went about researching, writing and designing the book, for any of you who might be interested in writing a book of your own.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)