Week 5: Branching Out (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks)

The theme for Week 5 and for February (for those of you doing the 12 Ancestors in 12 Months version) is "Branching Out." Have you branched out your research into looking at your collateral relatives? Made any good discoveries in records beyond the usual census and vital records? Or maybe you've discovered an ancestor who branched out in his or her education or occupation. Be creative!

As with all the theme’s thus far, “Branching out” does mean many things. The first thing that comes to my mind is branching my research into looking at my collateral relatives. Branching out has helped me with my DNA Matches.

One branch of my family, my maternal grandmother’s maiden name Hiltz/Hilts has caused me the most confusion.  I have traced my Hiltz line back to my 3rd great grandfather, Lawrence Hiltz who was born Nov 8, 1808 in Manlius, Onondaga, New York, USA. His wife was Nancy who was born Mar 15, 1813 also in Manulius, Onondaga, New York, USA. I never found where they died, however they moved to Wisconsin by 1860 and by 1870, Lawrence is listed as a widow.  I cannot find him after 1870. 

The confusion is the next several generations back to the Immigrant ancestor, my 7th great grandfather Christofel HÜLS and his wife Eva Catherine Engel. Christofel was born about 1668 in Germany while his wife was born about 1670 in Germany. She died around 1770 in Schoharie, Schohaire, New York, USA. Christofel died sometime between 1725-1757. 

My line is possibly, through Christofel’s son Christofel Hilts (6th ggf) who married Maria Engel, then his son Lorentz Hiltz (5th ggf) who 1st married Maria Catharina Miller and then married Barbara, followed by Lorentz Hilts (4th ggf) and his wife Margaretha Wartenbach. Finally ending with my proven Lawrence Hiltz (3rd ggf) and his wife Nancy. 

This family line repeats so many names within each generation. So many Christofels and Lawrences that it makes my head hurt. Also, to add to more confusion, I found a book “Godfrey Hilts and his Canadian Descendants” compiled by Charlotte Hilts Steele and Harry Doner. 

They have a Godfrey Hilts who married a Maria Miller which looks familiar to my Lorentz Hiltz who 1st married Maria Catharina Miller. In fact, the birth date I have for my Maria Miller is the same as Godfrey’s wife. Thus this questions all those branches. Which branch is really my branch? A distant cousin, also a descendant of Christofel HÜLS gave me my line. I inputted this line based on her knowledge (yes I know this could be my first mistake). I have been trying to prove these branches. The book doesn’t give me Godfrey’s father. In the genealogy given me by my distant cousin, I have a Godfrey Hilts and Maria Catharine Muller as the son of Chrstofel Hilts and his wife Maria Elzabeth Riegel who is the son of Simon Jacob Hilts and his wife Anna. Simon is a son of Christofel HÜLS.

My DNA matches seem to connect to these Canadian descendants, thus makes me think my line would be through Godfrey Hilts. Otherwise, I would not be sharing so much DNA with these people. Plus, it is not just me, it’s also my two sisters and one brother that I had tested too. 

Therefore, a big project I have started is to create a family tree based on the Godfrey Hilts book. Then I want to place my DNA matches into that tree. However, many of my DNA matches tree’s don’t go down very far. However, the Godfrey Hilts book has births in the 1980’s, so I will be branching my research into my DNA matches and the Hilts book. 

First I need to finish by Godfrey Hilts Book project; I am on page 232 of 319 pages. Back to work I go.

Are you going to branch out your research?

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Week 4: Curious (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks)

Week 4's theme is "Curious." Several people have already asked how to interpret this. Remember -- it's completely up to you! When I put the list together, I was thinking of something that you've always wanted to discover (something you're curious about) or a record/discovery that you find curious (unusual). You could also write about an ancestor who was curious (an inventor or detective, perhaps?)

As a genealogist, I think we are naturally curious about everything. This is the driving force behind our love of family history and genealogy research. But when I saw this topic, the person that came to mind was my 3rd great grandfather Amos H Booth. When I started my journey as an young adult, my mother gave me Amos Booth’s name along with Harriet Nedry. 

I didn’t know much about either person and my mother had the spelling of Nedry wrong. I was having no luck with either person, until one day, in Google Books, Amos Booth had a hit and it was the marriage of Amos to Harriet Elizabeth Nedry. The book was about the Sponable family, Harriet’s mother was a Sponable. I finally broke through this brick wall, well, sort of. 

I had a few facts about Amos, such as he was born about 1827 in Canada. I found him in 1850 in Marengo, McHenry County, Illinois as single male, born in Canada, living in the household of Peter Dietz. In 1860 he was living in Ripon, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, age 33, a cabinet maker who was born in Canada, with his wife and two daughters. His daughters were born in Iowa, so I see that he had to lived there between 1850 and 1860. In 1870, still living in Ripon, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, age 43 with his wife, two daughters, a son, along with another man and his one year old son. I show that his oldest daughter was married this man in 1869 and thus it was her husband and son. In 1880, he is an inmate in Wauwatosa, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin at a Veterans home and listed as a carpenter. His wife and son are living in Marengo, McHenry County, Illinois. His two daughters are married and both are living in Ripon, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin.

I found several city directories for the years 1871, 1872, 1875, 1877 and 1878 Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. In 1871 he is an organ builder living at the factory of Marshall Bros. In 1872 he is still organ builder for Marshal Bros & Clarke, but beds at 201 Spring. In 1874 he is an organ builder and resides at 182 5th. In 1875 the organ maker beds at 420 Clybourn. In 1877 he is a millwright who resides at 201 Grand Ave. In 1878 he is an organ builder who beds at 242 Hanover.

I discovered a little history of the Marshall Bros. In May 1870, The Marshalls who had been living in Ripon, moved their business to the old Matthew Bros Furniture warehouse at Fourth and Fowler. The factory was a frame building some 30 by 100ft. A portion of the first floor was a stable for Matthew Bros.; the rest of the first floor and all of the second floor was for factory purposes. A fire destroyed the building on November 21, 1871 and by January 18, 1872 the Marshalls moved into their new factory at Tenth and Clybourn. This was two blocks south of the newly built Calvary Presbyterian Church. In addition to the new factory, the Marshall Bros. acquired another partner, Abraham F Clarke. The firm’s name became Marshall Bros. & Clarke. The new factory was 30 by 80 feet with the building room of the same dimensions, 34 feet height. The metal shop and offices were separate, and there were some twenty men employed. By 1874, the factory was said to employee fifty men. 

In the plat map from 1893, the Calvary Presbyterian Church is located at the corner of Tenth and Grand Ave. Going two blocks south on Tenth to Clybourn is where the Marshall’s new factory was located. 

In the current map, the highway interexchange system is located at the intersections of Tenth and Clybourn.  

Amos H Booth died on October 27, 1899 in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. 

I did locate and requested his Civil War Pension record where I found his marriage date of Aug 9, 1851 in West Point, Lee, Iowa. This explains why his daughters were married in Iowa. Why he and Harriet moved from Marengo, McHenry County, Illinois to Iowa is unknown to me. It also mentioned that he was from Elizabethtown, Leeds, Ontario, Canada; however his parents were never named. 

I am unsure who exactly his parents are, however my nephew believes they may be James Booth (1803-1881) and Charlotte Sherriff (1801-1885). He found DNA matches that appear to support this relationship. Now my curiosity will be taking me to follow up on this assumption. 

Where does your curious nature take you on your genealogy research?

Check out Amy Johnson Crow 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Themes for 2022 to receive a weekly email with ideas for using the prompts or to check out the Themes for 2022.

Week 3: Favorite Photo (52 Ancestors in 52 weeks)

 This week’s prompt is to tell the story of a favorite photo: who is in it, where and when it was taken, and why it was taken. What was the event?

Let’s be honest, we probably have more than one “favorite photo”. I decided to select a photo I just came across of my paternal “step” grandfather and his parents and siblings.

My mother didn’t find out until her 18^th birthday that her father was not her biological father. He raised her and legally adopted her when she was 18 and according to the adoption papers, so that she didn’t have to go through life presenting an illegitimate birth certificate.  So even though this family is technically a step family, it’s the only family my mother knew in her childhood. My mother took this secret to her grave and I only uncovered it around 2011 after starting my application for the Daughters of the American Revolution and found my grandparent’s marriage record dated 1929 instead of 1926. In a previous blog post I did back on July 22, 2013, you can read about “My mother’s secret”.

In this photo are my great grandparents, August Hafenstein and Emma Thielke, along with their three children, Gilbert, Mildred and my grandfather John Wesley.

I believe this picture was taken when Gilbert was confirmed because his age and attire is similar to his confirmation picture. If I had to guesstimate a year, it was about 1927. Gilbert looks to be about 14. There are no markings on the picture and thus I am unsure where this picture was taken. The family was living in Fountain Prairie, Columbia County, Wisconsin on a farm during the 1920 US Federal Census. However by 1930 US Federal Census they purchased a home in Beaver Dam, Dodge County, Wisconsin.

August Frederick Hafenstein was born Aug 4, 1876 in Portland, Dodge County, Wisconsin, the son of Johann and Augusta (Baumann) Hafenstein. His parents were German immigrants. On Nov 6, 1901 in Watertown, Jefferson County, Wisconsin he married Emma Sophia Thielke, daughter of John and Johanna (Buss) Thielke. They too were German immigrants. Emma was born Jan 10 1874 in Watertown, Jefferson County, Wisconsin. August died on Apr 19, 1954 in Beaver Dam, Dodge County, Wisconsin and Emma died Mar 14, 1955 in Beaver Dam, Dodge County Wisconsin.

My grandfather, John Wesley was their first born. He was born Jan 25 1903 in Beaver Dam, Dodge County, Wisconsin. John married my grandmother Katherine Arlena Hiltz on May 29, 1929 in Oshkosh, Winnebago County, Wisconsin. They had three daughters. John was sickly for many years and died at the age of 54 on Jan 3, 1958 in Beaver Dam, Dodge County, Wisconsin, on the birthday of his youngest daughter.  Katherine died on Apr 25, 1972 in Beaver Dam, Dodge County, Wisconsin.

Mildred Dorothy was born Sept 6, 1906 in Beaver Dam, Dodge County, Wisconsin and married LaFallette Marion “Bob” Allen on Dec 15, 1927 in Columbus, Dodge County, Wisconsin.  They had four children, their oldest died when he was only 3 months old in 1930. Mildred died on May 9, 1985 while Bob passed away in 1996. Bob was a farmer and even ran his own dairy for many years. During the depression, my grandfather worked for Bob in his dairy and my mother said his wages included, milk, cheese, butter and ice cream.

Gilbert Raymond was born Jan 22, 1913 in Calamus, Dodge County, Wisconsin and married Adeline Splitt in 1941 in Dubuque County, Iowa. They had one son.  Gilbert died on Apr 3, 1978 while Adeline died on Aug 23, 1987.

So what is one of your favorite photos?  

Check out Amy Johnson Crow 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Themes for 2022 to receive a weekly email with ideas for using the prompts or to check out the Themes for 2022.

Week 2: Favorite Find (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks)

 

This week's prompt could be a discovery that you made from breaking down a brick wall or something that just made you smile.

I have chosen my 3^rd great grandmother, Harriet Elizabeth Nedry Booth.  Elizabeth, as she was known as a girl, was born 24 Aug 1836 most likely in Ohio. She is the oldest of 5 daughters of John W Nedry (1814-1890) and his wife Elizabeth Sponable (1816-1899).

By 1840, her family moved to Illinois where her three youngest siblings were born. Her father died in Cedar Run, Benzie, Michigan in 1890 however her mother died in Marengo, McHenry, Illinois in 1899.

Harriet married Amos H Booth (1827-1899) on 9 Aug 1851 in West Point, Lee County, Iowa. They had three children, Martha Jane (1851-?), Wilina Ellen (1854-1898) and Edwin Booth (1869-?).  In the 1900 US Census, it listed that Harriet had 4 children, and three were still living.

In 1860 Harriet, her husband Amos and her two oldest daughters are living in Ripon, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. In 1870, they are still living in Ripon however they have added their one year old son, Edwin. In 1880, Harriet listed as married and son Edwin are living in Marengo, McHenry, Illinois. While her husband, Amos is living in a Veterans home in Wauwatosa, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Now for my favorite find. I found a Civil War Pension Index card that led me to request Amos’s Civil War Pension record. The Pension record I received was about 100 legal size pages. The pension applied for was based on the Act of June 27, 1890.

The Dependent and Disability Pension Act was passed by the United States Congress (26 Stat. 182) and signed into law by President Benjamin Harrison on June 27, 1890. The act provided pensions for all veterans who had served at least ninety days in the Union military or naval forces, were honorably discharged from service and were unable to perform manual labor, regardless of their financial situation or when the disability was suffered.

So it appears that both Harriet and Amos started applying for a pension in 1890. Harriet applied under the premise she was the widow of Amos and per Claim no 473769 was started as of 18 Aug 1890.

Amos applied under the premise of disability, and per Claim no 796922 was started as of 11 Jul 1890.

During this time, Harriet for some reason married on 23 Nov 1893 to her 2^nd cousin John Sponable (1825-1906) who lived in Kent County, Michigan.  It doesn’t appear they ever lived together, that Harriet returned to her home in Illinois that she shared with her deaf sister, Lois. John Sponable was also a Civil War Veteran.  I don’t know if she tried applying under him.

Harriet’s Widow’s Pension was approved on Aug 7, 1894 and quickly rejected on Sep 1, 1894 because solider is still living and has an application claim of 796922.

Whether Harriet collected any money or not is uncertain since reading all the paperwork is confusing.

On 14 Aug 1899, Amos’s Invalid Pension was approved with $12 monthly payments to be backed paid from Oct 28, 1895.

Amos finally passed away 27 Oct 1899 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is buried in the Wood National Cemetery, located in Milwaukee.

Harriet reapplied for Amos’s death pension on Nov 15, 1899 and was awarded $8 per month.  She had to answer some very interesting questions such as:

She swore that she has not remarried since the death of the Amos Booth. This is true because she remarried before his death.

She also swore that she has not applied previously for a benefit; however we know that is not true, but it seems this didn’t affect her benefit in 1899.

In 1908, her benefit was increased to $12 per month.

Between 1900 and 1910, Harriet sold the home that her sister Lois and she lived in. This might had been the family home of their parents, because in the pension, Edwin (Harriet’s son) stated that his mother sold the home for $1500 but it was in a living trust for Lois. She paid off the $600-$700 mortgage and then gave Lois $600 and kept the remaining funds for herself.

By 1910, Harriet was living with her son Edwin in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and passed away on 2 Mar 1916. Her body was transported via train to be buried in Ripon, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin. I have been unable to locate a “Find A Grave” record and I am not sure which cemetery she might be buried in.

In Edwin’s correspondence to the state department to be reimbursed for funeral and final death cost for his mother, he swore that his parents never divorced. Which leads me to wonder how she was able to marry her 2^nd cousin back in 1893?

This pension file took me several times to read and re-read to gather all the facts correctly.

Currently, I am requesting a copy of the death certificate for Harriet in hopes that it might list her final resting place.

Week 1 - Foundations

Week 1 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, 2022 version! By Amy Johnson Crow / Generations Café.

Week 1: Foundations
The theme for January and for Week 1 is "Foundations." Some ways you might interpret this include focusing on the person who sparked your interest in family history, a builder in your family tree, or the person who is the bedrock of your family.

This theme got me thinking on who sparked my family history. It was my father, but it was a gravestone he took me to.

Let me start at the beginning, when I was about 14 years old, I believe I had a family history project I had to do in my Social Studies class. Even though, it was after the project, my father asked me if I wanted to visit some relatives. I said yes. I know we picked up his sister and I am not sure who else was with us, but he drove to the countryside and we ended up at a Cemetery.

My aunt had found this gravestone and I thought about their mother. At this point, I did not know who their parents were. When I saw the stone, it was lying on the ground and I could see Patrick’s age at time of death. I recorded the information that I found.

This tombstone started the questions, I knew I descended from the parents, but who were their parents? Was this all their living children and did they have to start over with their family.

Many years later when I started my research I found that their parents were James Crinion and Mary Ann McMahon. James was born on 2 Feb 1832 in Louth, Ireland and died 25 Feb 1923 in Fountain Prairie, Columbia, Wisconsin. His wife was born in 1839 in Monaghan, Ireland and died 11 Aug 1899 in Doylestown, Columbia, Wisconsin.

This cemetery predates the Cemetery at the St Patrick’s Church in Doylestown, Columbia, Wisconsin where the rest of the family is basically buried.

Eliza, Ann and Patrick were their first three children. Mary Ann was pregnant with her fourth child, my great grandfather, David Crinion who was born 15 May 1864 in Fountain Prairie, Columbia, Wisconsin.

James and Mary Ann had a total of 10 children, Eliza lived 7 years, 1 month and 1 day, Ann lived 1 year, 6 months and 15 days, Patrick lived 2 years and 19 days, David lived 85 years, 9 months and 22 days, Rose lived 24 years, 25 days and died during childbirth, her daughter did survive. Jane lived 45 years, 11 months and 28 days, Charles lived 60 years 7 months and 2 days, John lived 70 years, 7 months and 2 days. John went to an institution after his father’s death; I believe he had some sort of learning disability. Mary lived 17 years, 4 months and 4 days, and James (Jr) lived 28 years, 8 months and 8 days.

Mary had to bury 5 of her children while James buried 7 of his children. Of their 10 children, only David, Rose and Jane had children. Rose as mentioned previously, only had one child, a child that James and Mary raised most of her childhood. The child did finally go live with her father, his wife and her half-siblings. David had 7 children, two who died in infancy, while Jane had 11 children. One of Jane’s sons died 4 days after her mother and she had three children who died before adulthood and four children that I know were deceased by 1982, that I need to do some more research on. Yahoo for this 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge, otherwise, I might not have realized that I was missing valuable information.

In the Will of James Crinion, I got a little insight into the Irish temper he might have had. “It is my will that the children of my daughter, Jennie (Jane) Spooner, shall take nothing under this my will, for the reason that provision was made for my said daughter in her lifetime, and because my grand-children, being the children of my said daughter Jennie, have never assisted me in any way , and it is also my wish that my grand-daughter, Rose Mary Kannedy, do not receive any part of my estate, she having previously received One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) from me and being in a position to provide for herself.

Rose Mary was the daughter of Rose, this was the grandchild that James and Mary raised from infancy. I also, show that her married name was really Canada.

  

My Genealogy Foundation

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks by Amy Johnson Crow has Week 1 (Jan. 1-10) weekly prompt as Foundations.

So what comes to mind when you think of Genealogy, Ancestors and Foundations? Many things come to mind, such as my genealogy foundation of education. I have an A type of personality, thus before I jumped in Genealogy, I researched the processes of how to do genealogy. 40 years ago as an 18 year old, I went to my local library and started reading beginning genealogy books. Talk about information overload. Even after reading all those books, I end up redoing my genealogy in the year days, because I overlooked the importance of standardized forms. All my forms were not the same size and were not even the same form. For example, I used many different Family group sheets.

Therefore, I am going to start my 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks with what I learned when I started doing genealogy, my foundation into genealogy.

I started with one binder with 8 tabs and placed my great-grandparents surnames (women’s maiden names) for each tab. Even though, none of my grandparents were alive, my parents were and they knew who their grandparents were. (At least I thought they did, more on that later).

I interviewed my parents about their parents and their grandparents. Collecting as much information about them and recording them onto Family Group sheets. (please pick one family group sheet and use this from now on). Back when I started, personal computers were in their infancy. Don’t overlook using paper forms for collecting information from family. These forms are your starting point.

In the beginning, I didn’t really use research logs. I used logs to record when I sent snail mail out to family or repositories, but not where I looked or what I looked up. In the beginning I wasted time, looking at the same books, more than once. Therefore, even it’s only a simple notebook; write down what you looked up. Books don’t change, therefore if you looked up the surname Jones in a book and whatever you find or don’t find, record it. This is also true for some on-line database you look up. What you don’t find today, you might find tomorrow. Or if you don’t find it, it might not be added in that database. Understand the resources you are using. You may want to repeat some lookups or try them a different way.

Never assume anything and don’t exclude anything unless you fully research it. For example, in the beginning I was looking up a book of Marriage indexes and found my 2^nd great grandmother Wilhelnina Booth. I found her marriage to my 2^nd great grandfather Seymour Hiltz. Then I saw another entry for a Nellie Booth and I ignored it. I ignored it for about 30 years. I revisited this entry when I discovered that Seymour abandoned his family and Wilhelnina married someone, but I didn’t know who. Well guess what, this was her second marriage. Had I not ignored it, dismissed it because I thought this could not possibly be her. This also applies to ignoring anything that isn’t spelled the way you want it. Our ancestors were not as picky about spelling as we are.

Finally, record where you find your information, don’t rely on memory. In the beginning, I asked my Aunt who was mentoring me, if we need to record where we find this information. She said no because it isn’t like we were going to join a lineage society. However, if you don’t want to waste time, knowing where you found stuff will save you from looking there again. Plus, when you share stuff with other researchers, they want to know where you looked and where you found stuff. You might find more things in the same location.

Therefore, good genealogy relies on a good foundation. A good foundation relies on good research skills and habits. Start off properly and you won’t have to repeat what you have done.

Good luck in your research.