52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 3 Longest

In preparing for this I needed to use google to determine the distance traveled by my ancestors from their home to their destination in the United States. I checked the distance for my three immigrant ancestors to the cities where they settled.

            Villmar, Hesse-Nassau to Milwaukee, Wisconsin is 6840 km

            Bergen, Norway to Chicago, Illinois is 6206 km

            Limerick, Ireland to Chicago, Illinois is 5768 km

Clearly the distance traveled by my German Great-great-grandfather and his family is the longest.

Around 1845, Georg Burbach left his birth village of Oberselters[1] in Hesse-Nassau and traveled to the village of Villmar about 12.4 km to 16.3 km away. His parents were both deceased and as a second son, he would inherit no land. The journey probably took two to three hours on foot depending on the route he took.

Georg found work as a laborer on a grain farm and settled into village life. 

Perhaps his attendance at the Church of Saints Peter and Paul led to meeting Catherina Caspari whom he married in the church on 22 April 1849.[2]

The young couple had their first child, a son Adam, born 5 Sep 1849,[3] Adam was followed by Hermann in 1852[4] and Johan in 1854[5]. Sadly Adam died in Dec of 1854[6] and is buried in the cemetery of Saints Peter and Paul Church.

Shortly after the death of Adam, Georg and Catherina received news from their relatives in Wisconsin about the opportunities in the United States. The young couple decided they would leave Hesse-Nassau and seek their fortune in the United States.

On 18 June 1856[7] Georg and Catherina, along with their sons Hermann and Johan (John) arrived in New York and began the journey to Milwaukee.

After arriving in Milwaukee, Georg worked as a laborer to support his family, gradually improving his employment by advancing to cattle drover (herder) by 1863[8] and cattle broker by 1870[9]. In 1875 he had advanced to Cattle Broker and in 1877 he was a butcher in a shop owned by his sons Hermann and John.

Georg and Catherina had six other children after their arrival in Milwaukee but only the last child Eva, born in March of 1880 is known to have survived.

Georg died 20 July 1897[10] in Milwaukee and is buried in Calvary Cemetery there. His wife Catherina spent the remainder of her live living with their son John and his wife and family. Catherina died 17 September 1913[11] and is buried next to Georg in Calvary Cemetery.

---

[1]  Kirchenbuchduplikat 1818 - 1874, Dupilcate Church Book Baptisms 1820-1840: 7 Aug 1825 George son of Huburtus Burbach and Catheruine Schaaf, St Anthony Catholic Church, Oberselters, Hessen-Nassau, Germany.

[2] Villmar Catholic Church (Villmar, Hessen-Nassau, Prussia), "Kirchenbuch 1632 -1884," (Church Book 1632-1884), page 45, Marriage of eorg Burbach and Catherine Caspari 29 APR 1848; 1632-1884, Diocese of Limburg, Limburg, Hessen-Nassau, Germany. LDS film 1272248.

[3] Villmar Catholic Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Villmar), Kirchenbuch 1632 - 1884, 1272247, 5 Sep 1849, Birth and death of Adam Burbach; FHL microfilm 1272247.

[4] Villmar Catholic Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Villmar), Kirchenbuch 1632 - 1884, 1632-1884, 13 Mar 1852, Baptism of Hermann Burbach; FHL microfilm 1272247.

[5] Villmar Catholic Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Villmar), Kirchenbuch 1632 - 1884, 16 Apr 1854, Birth and Baptism of Johan Burbach; FHL microfilm 1272247.

[6]  Villmar Catholic Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Villmar), Kirchenbuch 1632 - 1884, 5 Sep 1849, Birth and death of Adam Burbach; FHL microfilm 1272247

[7] Ancestry.com, New York, Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010), Year: 1856; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 164; Line: 21; List Number: 676.

[8] Milwaukee City Directory (Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin:n.p.n.d.), 1863 p 38, occupation of George Burbach; digital image, ancestry,com (https://www.fold3.com/image/255348646 : online 11 March 1863).

[9] 1870 US Census, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, population schedule, Ward 9 Milwaukee, Page 379B, 1749, Georg Burbach; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=1870usfedcen&gss=angs-d&new=1&rank=1&gsfn=Herman&gsfn_x=0&gsln=Burbach&gsln_x=0&msbdy=1852&msbpn__ftp=Germany&msbpn=3253&msbpn_PInfo=3-%7c0%7c1652381%7c0%7c3253%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c&msrpn__ftp=Milwaukee%2c+Milwaukee%2c+Wisconsin%2c+USA&msrpn=54011&msrpn_PInfo=8-%7c0%7c1652393%7c0%7c2%7c3247%7c52%7c0%7c2025%7c54011%7c0%7c&MSAV=1&uidh=dk3&pcat=35&fh=8&h=14921654&recoff=&ml_rpos=9 : accessed 7 March 2016); Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch..

[10] Wisconsin Death Records 1867-1907 Wisconsin State Historical Society, FamilySearch.org, database (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XLCC-XS8 : online 11 March 2016), p 465 death and occupation of George Burbach.

[11]  Death Notices, Germania-Herold Abendblatt, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 15 September 1913, pg 5 col 6. death and burial of Katharine Burbach.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 2 Favorite Photo

I am blessed to have access to many family photos and have many favorites. This is one of them.

Photo in my possession
received from Dominican Sisters Archives,
Adrian, Michigan

The woman standing on the bridge is my grandmother Alice Fleming Connery.

The bridge is in Adrian, Michigan. Adrian is where Alice would send her daughters for their education. As early as 1900, her oldest daughter, Mary Elizabeth, age 6, would appear to be living there in the 1900 census.[1] Mary was attending St Joseph Academy, where her Uncle Michael Fleming was the Chaplain.

Over the years, Alice made many trips to Adrian as five of her daughters attended the academy and later two of her daughters joined the Sisters of St Dominic.

What was Alice thinking as she stood on that bridge? Was she wondering what the future held for her family? Was she thinking about her aging parents left in Ireland? Wishing they could know her children?

I do wonder what she was thinking.

---

[1]  1900 US Federal Census,  Adrian, Lenawee, Michigan; Page: 5; Enumeration District: 0039; FHL microfilm: 1240725; Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004; Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 51 2019 Review of Genealogy Goals

google images

One of my goals for 2019 was to finally finish collecting the records needed to finish my daughter’s application to the Daughters of the American Revolution. I did it! My daughter will be sworn in as a member in January, 2020. Her application will act as a springboard for my son’s application to the Son’s of the Revolution.

I signed up to participate in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks again as a way to inspire me to continue my blogging. I was less successful this year, only writing half as often as I did in 2018. I hope to do better in 2020.

In 2019, I discovered “Virtual Education” and have taken several classes from the comfort of home. One of the classes I took, through the Utah Genealogy Associations, was “Intermediate Foundations” and was very intensive. This has led me to other classes both virtual and in person.

I am a member of Gina Philibert- Ortega’s book club and have managed to read all of the books for the past year.

I have also remained at program chair for our local genealogy group and maintain the group website.

I am happy with my accomplishments in 2019 and plan additional challenges for 2020. Tomorrow I will write about my goals for 2020.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – Week 26 “Legend”

It has long been a legend in the Connery family of Chicago that our patriarch Michael, commonly known as M J once lead the St Patrick’s Day Parade down State Street on a white horse.

M J Connery circa 1920?

In an effort to confirm this legend, I did some research on both the history of the parade and my grandfather M J.

What is now the parade in downtown Chicago began on in the Southtown area of Chicago as early as 1843 with seven hundred seventy five marchers who first marched to St Mary’s church for Mass and then marched on to the Saloon Building at Clark and Randolph. [i] According to the article the Saloon Building became the first City Hall in Chicago.

The parade was held in Southtown from it’s beginning in 1843 until 1901 with the exception of 1897 when it was cancelled due to the increase in both poverty and homelessness because of the severe weather.[ii] After 1901 there were no more parades until they were reinstated in 1956 by Mayor Richard J Daly.

In 1898 Grand Marshall Bob Monahan led the parade on a prancing horse.[iii]

Searching the Chicago newspapers for M J Connery in the years between 1890 and 1910, the time he lived in Southtown, shows that M J was active in the community and ran for election as alderman in the 13^th ward [iv]1893, 1894[v] and 1898[vi]. At this time, it is not known if M J was ever elected but being on the ballot three times, shows a strong commitment to his community.

About 1910 M J and his family moved to the West Town neighborhood of Chicago and his allegiance changed to the Garfield Park neighborhood.

My conclusion is that M J never did ride that white horse down State Street. I think the references to Bob Monahan on his horse were mixed into the stories of life in Southtown when my aunts and uncles were children. Unfortunately, it would seem that the legend is really a myth, however I am open to additional proof.

---

[i] Lindberg, Richard, How Chicago Got It’s Green Back, Chicago Magazine a 22^nd Century Media Publication, 15 June 2016, online image, accessed 2 July 2019.

[ii] Ibid.

[iii] Ibid.

[iv] Chicago Eagle, 11 March 1893, page 1, image 1; Chronicling America, https://chroniclingamerica.gov, imagea online, accessed 2 July 2019.

[v] Chicago Eagle, 0  March 1894, page 4, image 4; Chronicling America, https://chroniclingamerica.gov, imagea online, accessed 2 July 2019.

[vi]   Chicago Eagle, 26 Feb 1898, page 4, image 4; Chronicling America, https://chroniclingamerica.gov, imagea online, accessed 2 July 2019.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – Week 25 “Earliest”

My earliest direct line ancestor to arrive in the United States was my great-great-grandfather, Georg Burbach.

St Anthony Church, Oberselters, Hessen Nassau, Germany
google images

Georg was the third child and first son born to Hubert Burbach and Catherine Schaaf on 3 August 1825 in the village of Oberselters, Hessen Nassau, Germany. He was baptized in St Anthony Catholic Church on 7 August 1825.[1]

Shortly after his father’s death in 1845[2], George left Oberselters, a village his ancestors had lived in since the 1700s. The village was a farming area and Georg had no land of his own. He traveled to the neighboring village of Villmar which was about 13 km north of Oberselters.[3] Villmar is larger than Oberselters and Georg hoped to find work there.

He did find work in the cereal fields of Villmar where he met and married Catherine Caspari on 29 April 1848 in Sts Peter and Paul Church.[4] The young couple settled in the village and began to raise a family. Their first child, Adam was born 5 Sep 1849,[5] followed by Hermann born 11 Mar 1852[6] and Johan born 15 Apr 1854.[7] As the family grew the economy declined due to several years of crop failures. Times looked bleak for the young family. And then Adam died 6 Dec 1854. After his burial at Sts Peter and Paul Church[8], Georg and Catherine decided to follow others from the area and travel to the United States. Catherine’s parents were dead as were Georg’s parents, but Catherine had an aunt and uncle who had traveled to the United States and settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to farm the land.

In 1856 Georg Burbach left Villmar[9] with Catherine and their two sons, Hermann and Johan. They were going to join friends and family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

After arriving in Wisconsin in July of 1856, according to naturalization records, the family settled in the city of Milwaukee rather than looking for land to farm.

 The 1860 census shows Georg to be working as a laborer, in 1863 Georg is listed as a drover.[10] This was at the beginning of the Milwaukee meat processing era, during the time of Patrick Cudahy and Phillip Armor. Perhaps Georg knew and worked for one or the other.

Although there is reason to suspect that Georg and Catherine had other children, none survived to be recorded in the 1860 or 1870 census returns. There are Burbach babies buried in Calvary Cemetery but there is no indication of their parents and there was an unrelated Burbach family living in Milwaukee at the time.

As time marched on, Georg’s sons grew and learned the skills they would need to become successful butchers. The Burbach Bros Butcher shop was open on Walnut Street by the time of the 1880[11] census and was employed there as a butcher until his death 20 July 1897.[12] He is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[13]

---

[1]: Kirchenbuchduplikat 1818 - 1874, Dupilcate Church Book Baptisms 1820-1840: 7 Aug 1825 George son of Huburtus Burbach and Catheruine Schaaf, St Anthony Catholic Church.

[2] Kirchenbuchduplikat 1818 - 1874, Dupilcate Church Book 1818-1874: 9 Aug 1845, St Anthony Catholic Church.

[3] Google maps

[4]  Villmar Catholic Church, "Kirchenbuch 1632 -1884," page 45.

[5]St s Peter and Paul Church Villmar, Hessen-Nassau, Prussia, Kirchenbuch 1632 - 1884, 1272247, Birth and death of Adam Burbach.

[6] Sts Peter and Paul Church Villmar, Hessen-Nassau, Prussia, Kirchenbuch 1632 - 1884, 1632-1884, Baptism of Hermann Burbach.

[7] Sts Peter and Paul Church Villmar, Hessen-Nassau, Prussia, Kirchenbuch 1632 - 1884, Birth and Baptism of Johan Burbach.

[8]  Sts Peter and Paul Church Villmar, Hessen-Nassau, Prussia, Kirchenbuch 1632 - 1884, Birth and death of Adam Burbach.

[9] : "Die Auswanderung aus dem Herzogtum Nassau 1806-1866," immigration of Georg Burbach and family page 141.

[10] Milwaukee City Directory, 1863 p 38, occupation of George Burbach

[11] 1880 US census, Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, population, Milwaukee, ED ED 130, Page 69 B, , Hermann Burbach.

[12] Wisconsin Death Records 1867-1907, FamilySearch.org, database p 465 death and occupation of George Burbach.

[13] ibid

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – Week 18 “Road Trip”

Every year our family took a road trip. Every year to the same place. Every year to “Aunt Kathy’s Cottage”. It was such a special place that it was always capitalized when we spoke of it.

Our time was always the last two weeks of August. In a time before time-shares, we had a specific slot of time to use “Aunt Kathy’s Cottage”.

Lady Jane cottage owned by Aunt Kathy

First a little background about “Aunt Kathy’s Cottage”. At some time during the 1930’s my Uncle Jack purchased a small cottage on the Indiana shore of Lake Michigan. It was in a little community where the houses lining the beach road were known by name rather than street numbers. Names like “White Waves” and “Swiss Chalet” or family names since the houses stayed in the same family for generations. Uncle Jack named his cottage after his wife Jane, calling it the “Lazy Jane”. Aunt Jane was not amused! The cottage was quickly renamed the “Lady Jane” and soon Uncle Jack sold it to his sister Kathleen.

Kathleen never married but she kept the cottage for the use of other family members. Each of her siblings and their families had their assigned time slot and the cottage was rented out for the month of July in order to cover the taxes and other maintenance costs.

Ready to leave for Long Beach

So each summer about the fifteenth of August, mom would begin packing for the annual road trip to Long Beach, Indiana. In the late 1940s and early 1950s the trip from Elmhurst, Illinois to Long Beach, Indiana tool about four hours. It was a time before expressways and toll roads. Dad would load the white canvas laundry bags that held our clothes. Sometimes there were three of the huge white bags to stuff in the trunk, it depended on how many of us there were at the time. In the beginning three or four children, later all nine children would pile into the pale-yellow station wagon. Provided there were no flat tires, traffic jams, or weather delays, we would arrive at the cottage about four hours later, hot and thirsty. As soon as we were released from the car, off would come shoes and socks and down the steps we would race onto the sand and then to the cool lake waters.

The next two weeks would be spent barefoot and on the beach! The routine was breakfast, beach, lunch, rest time from 1 to 3 (to keep us out of the hot sun and it was also a time when polio was a major concern), back to the beach, dinner, beach till dusk and then read, board games or card playing until bedtime, There was no television or telephone at the cottage. It was an idyllic time. Because we went at the same time every year and there were other families that did the same, we had friendships to renew.

At Long Beach circa 1957

Mom and dad didn’t get a vacation though! Barefeet and beachtime meant there was always sandy floors to be swept even though we rinsed our feet at the back door. The kitchen stove was a gas stove that required that each burner be lit with a match each time it was used. The toaster was one that toasted 2 slices but only one side at a time, so you needed to manually turn the pieces before they burned. There was no washing machine or dryer so when it was time to do laundry, mom would pack up the laundry bags and dad would drive her into Michigan City to the laundro-mat. While mom did the laundry, we would go to the local dairy for a milkshake. Dad always worked on repairs and maintenance such as painting or replacing the outside stairway or re-carpeting the inside stairs. They truly sacrificed to provide us with summers to remember!

Labor Day weekend we would pack the car back up and do a final sweep out of the cottage before the long ride home. The day after Labor Day, we would go back to school, thus ending another summer adventure.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 16 An "Out of Place" Burbach

Johan Burbach, my great-uncle, was born in Villmar, Hessen Nassau on 15 April 1854 and baptized on 16 April 1854 in Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Villmar.[i] He was welcomed by his parents Georg Burbach and Catherina Caspari.

In 1856 the Burbach family left Villmar and made their way across two continents and the Atlantic Ocean to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[ii] They had been encouraged to make the move by Catharina’s aunt and uncle who were already living in Wisconsin.

In Milwaukee, Georg worked at many jobs to provide for his family. He was a peddler, laborer, drover, and eventually became a stock broker at a time when the meat industry was in it’s “heyday”.  His sons attended school and worked hard to achieve the family goal, to have their own business.

John Burbach worked as a butcher alongside his father and brother Herman during the latter half of the 1870s.  The two brothers married and raised their families together in Milwaukee. To all appearances they never left Wisconsin after they arrived in 1856.

Imagine my surprise when a random search for more information on John Burbach turned up a marriage record for John Burbach and Stefania Guember in New York[iii]! What? The names were the same as the information I had recorded for John Burbach in Milwaukee. John and his wife Stephanie appeared in all of the appropriate census for Milwaukee.

Checking the Milwaukee City Directory on fold3, I found listings for both Georg and Herman for the years 1875-1877 but no listing for John who returns to the Milwaukee City Directory as a butcher in 1878.

When did John go to New York? Why did he leave Milwaukee? Records show that Stephanie was born in Baden in 1855 and her parents were Stephen Grumber and Mary Ann Schmidt and her obituary mentions a surviving brother Joseph. Clearly there is more research to be done on my great-uncle and his wife.

---

[i]  Villmar Catholic Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Villmar), Kirchenbuch 1632 - 1884, 16 Apr 1854, Birth and Baptism of Johan Burbach; FHL microfilm 1272247.

[ii] Struck Wolf-Heino, "Die Auswanderung aus dem Herzogtum Nassau 1806-1866," passenger and immigration lists index, ancestry.com, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?f4=&f3=burbach&f11=&f9=&f14=&f15=&ti=5535 : ancestry.com 28 February 2004), immigration of Georg Burbach and family page 141; Gale Research Company.

[iii]  Marriage, (17 September 1875), "New York, New York City Marriage Records 1829-1940: FHL film 1543916; New York City Municipal Archives, New York, New York.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – Week 7 “Love”

All my Grandparents have a love story to remember and although there are differences in their stories, many things are the same: faith, loyalty and a commitment to each other. Their stories serve us well as examples of love.

Michael and Alice
photos probably taken at their respective commencements in Ireland.

In 1890, Alice was a young woman who had finished her education and was adrift to travel the meadows and glens of County Limerick with her cousin Molly. Her parents were aged since Alice was the youngest child and almost all her siblings had immigrated to the United States. Soon word was sent to the siblings in the States that something needed to be done about Alice, so her brother Michael returned to Ireland with the intent to take Alice back to Michigan with him where she would live with their married sister Mary Ann Walsh. Mary Ann was 26 years Alice’s senior and had children Alice’s age and older. There was friction in the family as Alice suffered the taunts and insults of her sister’s children for her old country clothes and manners. 

Alice frequently traveled between Michigan and Wisconsin to stay with her brothers Edmund or John as a way of escaping the teasing of her nieces and nephews. On one such trip she ran into Michael Connery, a young man she knew from her home in Ballylanders. Michael had immigrated to the United States several years before and when Alice first saw him and “set her cap for him”’, he was home visiting his parents and repaying them for the cost of the farm animal he had sold to pay for his ticket to the America. Michael had settled in Chicago, Illinois and done well for himself, so he was happy to show off his fine clothes and gold headed cane to the neighbors.

Alice was happy to meet Michael again and endeavored to find out about his traveling plans since he lived in Chicago and her brothers were based in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Evidently Michael traveled to Wisconsin often, and Alice arranged her visits to coincide with his. And so their romance bloomed.

Michael and Alice 28 June 1893
Port Huron, Michigan

On 28 June 1893,  Alice Fleming married Michael Connery at the Port Huron, Michigan home of her sister Mary Ann Walsh. Fr Michael Fleming, brother of the bride was the officiant, while the witnesses were members of both the bride and groom’s families. The newlywed couple journeyed to Chicago where they would make their home.

Michael’s profession changed over the years from barkeeper to Saloon owner, then as he branched out into real estate, he also invested in property ownership himself. At Alice’s request he eventually gave up the liquor business and concentrated on the real estate.

Life was good for the young couple and they prospered as their children were born and the family grew as the west side of Chicago grew and prospered.  They eventually had eight children, six daughters and two sons, who survived to adulthood. Unfortunately suffering the loss of their first son, Leo, who died at the age of seven in 1905. As time passed Michael and Alice often returned to Ireland for family visits, often taking one of their children with them. This may have spawned the love of travel so many of the children exhibited later in life.

Strong supporters of education, all their children attended boarding school at some point. The girls going to St Joseph’s Academy in Adrian, Michigan and the boys to a Jesuit High School, Champion, in Prairie du Chine, Wisconsin.  It probably began when Alice’s brother Michael, then a Catholic priest, was assigned to serve at St Joseph’s Academy in Adrian. There the girls would grow close to their Uncle Michael.

As time passed Michael Connery’s business grew and expanded to include the travel and insurance industries in addition to real estate. He provided employment for his children when they finished school and two of his children would remain with the business until they retired, and the business closed in the 1960s.

Michael worked at his office into the 1950s when illness forced his retirement. He died in 1953 having raised his family to be outstanding citizens who worked hard, attended church and were raising the same strong families that their parents did.

Michael died in 1953 ending a sixty-year marriage that saw their love demonstrated to their family friends in their respect for each other and sharing of their faith. Faith got them through the loss of their son Leo and a stillborn infant, it helped them survive the depression years when Michael sold half of his real estate to pay off mortgages on other properties.

On the occasion of Michael’s funeral, the parish grade school was given the day off to attend the funeral. A sure sign of the respect Michael and Alice commanded in the parish they had belonged to for over fifty years.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – Week 6 “Surprise”

This week’s theme is “surprise” so I will tell you about the surprise I got when I ordered a compiled Service Record for one of my husband’s mysterious Swedish ancestors.

Oloff Hanson is my husband’s great-great-grandfather and he first appears in the 1860 [i]census with his wife Mary living in Michigan City, La Porte, Indiana. As recorded in the census he is a Swedish born fisherman. Oloff’s wife Mary was reported to have been born in Hanover, Germany in 1842.

Oloff and Mary had eight children between 1860 and 1879. They remained in Michigan City until they appear in the 1880 census living in Chicago, Cook, Illinois.

All of the children are reported as having been born in Michigan (It appears that the census taker heard Michigan but not City as the actual records are for Michigan City which is in Indiana.) in the 1880[ii] census taken in Chicago.

Oloff died before the 1900 census was taken and I could find no trace of a widow in the census and no obituary record.

I was at a standstill with the family.  Even two trips to Salt Lake City with finding something out about Oloff as a priority were unsuccessful except for finding out that he had served in the Indiana Calvary during the Civil War. He was honored by La Porte County, Indiana in 1867 for his service in the war.

What did I know about Oloff? I knew he was born in 1824 or 1831, that he appeared in the census in 1860, and 1870 in Indiana and the 1880 census in Illinois. He served In the Civil War and fathered eight children.  Those are the only documented facts I had for Oloff.

I had no record of Oloff coming into the United States and found no marriage for Oloff and Mary. I had no place of birth or names of parents for Oloff.

Having no success with finding other records for Oloff, I sent for his Compiled Service Record from the National Archives hoping it would hold his Letter of Intent, which I hoped would tell me where in Sweden he came from.

It came faster than I thought it would and held several surprises! His biographical record told me that he left Sweden and traveled first to Germany before coming to the United States. While in Germany he met Marie(Mary) Hepke and they were married in the American Consulate in Hamburg. I further learned the names of all of his children and that Mary had died in 1881 in Chicago.

OK, I still don’t know where Oloff was born but I know where he was married and about when. I know when and where Mary died and since I found her death record, I know she died as a result of childbirth. I also know that I need to look for Oloff, a Swedish man leaving Hamburg with a wife born in Hanover.

I haven’t quit looking for Oloff! I'm just taking a different path,

---

[i] Year: 1860; Census Place: Michigan City, La Porte, Indiana; Roll: M653_275; Page: 389; Family History Library Film: 803275;  ancestry.com, online images, accessed 10 Fem 2019

[ii] Year: 1880; Census Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois; Roll: 195; Page: 163B; Enumeration District: 141; Ancestry.com ,images inline, accessed 10 Feb 2019; Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.