Saturday Night Genealogy Fun! - Proof of Lineage and Honoring a Patriot

It's time for another of Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenges!  

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible! music) is to:

1) What genealogy fun have you had this week?  What is your genealogy highlight of the week?  It could be finding a new ancestor, reading a new genealogy book, hearing a speaker at a seminar or society program, watching a webinar or Hangout On Air, or anything else that you have enjoyed.

2)  Tell us about it in a blog post on your own blog, in a comment to this post, or in a Google Plus or Facebook post.

This week I met with a friend who recently joined the Daughters of the American Revolution to see what proofs of lineage she used for her membership application.  She showed me the book she had used and explained the types of proofs preferred.  It seems that wills, marriage records, and even census forms are commonly used.

Returning home, I began a list of what I would need to assemble.  Most of what I need would come from two places.  The records are in Boone County, Indiana and Jasper County, Illinois.  Then I remembered that on a trip to Illinois ten years ago, my husband and I stopped in Jasper County for a couple of days so we could visit the cemetery his ancestors were buried in and visit the courthouse.  It was my first courthouse trip and I was able to copy some records.  Today I checked my files and some of what I copied ten years ago were the two wills I need for the DAR application!  How do you top that for fun!

The Book of Me, Written by You - Prompt 9: Halloween

Julie's prompt for last week: 
The prompt for week 9 : Halloween
Have you ever participated in a Halloween event?
When was it?
Where was it?
What did you dress as?
Trick or treat?

When I was growing up Halloween was not the celebration it is now.  There were carved pumpkins and trick or treating of course but not the kind of decorations in use today.  I remember a cardboard skeleton hanging in the window.  Someone was always moving his arms and legs.

Everyone went trick or treating and used flashlights to find their way in the dark.  Costumes were homemade using our creativity.  Scarecrows and bums were quick and easy to put together with things found around the house.  We all wore masks to disguise ourselves.  Think Lone Ranger mask.

Pillowcases were used to haul our loot.  In those days, before there was the danger something harmful being in a treat, we got popcorn balls, caramel apples, cookies and other home baked goodies.  

The Book of Me, Written by You - Prompt 7, Grandparents Part 1 Adolph and Henrietta

The Book of Me, Written By You a project created by Julie Goucher of the Anglers Rest blog. The concept: a series of blogging and writing prompts that help family historians capture their own memories and write about themselves. Click here for more information.]

Prompt 7: Grandparents

What were their names?
Where were they from?
Were they related? – Cousins perhaps
Where were they born, another Country or state/area
Photos
What did they do?
Did you know them?
What was your relationship with them?
If you didn’t know them have you researched about them?

Adolph and Henrietta (Burbach) Hansen were my dad's parents.  Adolph Halfdan was born in Norway and was the third of six children born to Adolf and Dorette (Christiansdatter) Hansen.  His father was a musician and composer in the Norwegian army.  When Dorette died in 1887, after the birth of her sixth child, Agot, her husband remarried.  The fact that the second wife, Nathalie, was only five years older than Adolph's sister Dagny helped spur the decision of Dagny, Arthur, and Adolph to come to the United States.  Shortly after arriving in Chicago, Adolph began working for his uncle Oscar's construction company.   Adolph worked his way up in the company to become secretary and vice-president.  Due to his job,  Adolph traveled all over the United States but remained based in the Chicago area.  In time Oscar Daniels died and Adolph took over the company.  As the economy changed and there were fewer construction projects Adolph and Henrietta even risked their home in an effort to save the company.  Unfortunately, both the company and the home were lost.  When at last I could check the 1940 census, I was amazed to learn the Adolph had achieved so much success with only a seventh grade education.  In my mind I picture him as relatively tall and slender with silver hair and sparkling blue eyes.  Adolph died when I was 4 years old, so my memories of him are scant. One memory (not sure if it is really a memory or something I was told) is going to Kiddie-Land with him on Sunday afternoons.

circa 1909

Henrietta Eva Burbach was born 23 Aug 1888 to Hermann and Eva (Schmidt) Burbach in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Her father had immigrated from Germany with his family when he was 4 years old.  Hermann and his brother John had their own butcher shop on Walnut St in Milwaukee.  During her lifetime Henrietta saw more than her share of tragedy.  Her brother John drowned in the Milwaukee river when Henrietta was just four years old.  This left a lasting mark as Henrietta never overcame her fear of water.  When Henrietta was 8 her father died suddenly followed by her only sister the next year.  That may be why she left school after the third grade.   When she was 20 years old, Adolph and Henrietta were married at Gesu Church in Milwaukee and then moved to Chicago.  The young couple saw quite a bit of the United States as Adolph traveled for work.  Their daughter Dorothy was born in Chicago while son Donald was born in Tooele, Utah.  I remember my grandmother always wearing a "housedress" and apron with white ankle socks and sandals. 

google images

She had very thin hair which she curled with silver metal curlers.

google images

I know a lot about Adolph and Henrietta ( aka Bockie and Baba) but I don't feel I really know them.  I wish I could have known them in  a deeper sense,  What were their feelings and core values?  From the facts I have discovered during my research I know they were honest and hardworking.  They valued education and loved books and music.  They were optimistic and loving.  They loved their families.