The Chair - A Thanksgiving Memory

The chair sat in the corner of the living room.  It wasn't a confy cozy chair so it wasn't used often, but it was a beautiful mahogany arm chair small in proportion and delicate without being dainty.  The seat was covered in a deep purple velvet.  Usually no one used the chair but that changed on Thanksgiving.  The chair was occupied by a lady named Lorraine.  I don't remember if we called her Aunt or not but we probably should have.  (She was almost 10 years older than my dad.)  Lorraine came for Thanksgiving almost every year in the 1950's.  She had short curly salt and pepper hair and usually wore a beige silk dress with a white lace collar.  She sat in the corner quietly waiting for dinner.  If you went over to talk to her she would discuss her hobby of collecting matchbooks.  She had an extensive collection which she would display in local libraries.  I never knew just how she was related to the family but it was enough that she was there.  It seemed almost that the chair was there just for her.

Much later, after I began doing genealogy, I discovered that she was my dad's cousin and a niece to my grandmother.  Lorraine Henrietta Burbach Gist was born in Febrary 1901 to George and Rose Schmitt Burbach in Milwaukee, WI.  She probably was married in Milwaukee to Mr Gist, and sometime after 1951 she moved to the Chicago area  and died there in 1985.  Sadly my father died in 1959 and his mother in 1960.  Unfortunately, we lost touch with that side of the family which only makes finding the details more difficult.  

Tech Tuesday: My Nook Tablet

Ruth of Ruth's Genealogy wrote recently about turning her IPad 2 into a lean mean genealogy machine and reading her post encouraged me to review how I use my Nook Color.

I purchased a Nook Color over a year ago after losing my original Nook while traveling.  Since I enjoyed using the Nook so much for reading, I decided to move to the Nook Color as a replacement.  I had also heard about using a N2A card to turn the Nook Color into an android tablet.  I got the Nook Color the day after I lost my original Nook and then I went online and ordered a N2A card. It took about 3 days for the card to come.

I've had the converted Nook Color for about a year now and I love using it for everything away from home.  I take it with when I go to the genealogy room at the library and when I go to a Family Search Center for research. The N2A card is the gingerbread version of android (v 2.3.7) and allows me to install android apps at little or no cost.  I have Ancestry.com,  Families ( a mobile version of Legacy Family Tree) and My Heritage for genealogy.  I have also loaded the Kindle, BN, and Overdrive reader apps to I am never without a book.    I even downloaded the syllabus for the genealogy cruise I took last spring and was able to take notes and highlight the lectures.  For notes I use Evernote which syncs with my laptop and phone.  Using Dropbox and Google Docs lets me access all of my files and they are also synced automatically.  For printing I use the Google cloud app.  Supposedly with the google cloud app for printing I can print to my home printer from anywhere but I have yet to test that.  The only things missing from my tablet are a camera and a scanner but both of those are present on my android phone.  I have an entire traveling office that fits in my purse.  The extra bonus is that the Nook Color weighs less than a pound.

After a year I am not sorry I chose to go with a Nook Color and a N2A card to create my tablet.  Then the cost worked out to $300.00 now the same set-up would be less than $200.00.  The extra bonus is that if my nook color dies, I can just move theN2A card to a new nook color (currently $139.00)

Motivation Monday - Re-searching Your Research

Last week I received a message from someone who had a question about a member of my husbands family.  His aunt Hazel was something of a mystery and seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth.  All I knew was that she had married Larry and had a daughter Sherry.  There was something that had been mentioned about her living in Florida and dying at a young age.  I had never really followed up on Hazel, Larry, and Sherry.  Last week's contact added to the mystery since it seems to reveal that Hazel was married in 1936 at the age of 16.  Her marriage license attests that she has her father's consent.  Interesting since her father was dead at the time!

All of this caused me to start looking at Hazel once again to see what else I could find out about her.  In the 1940 census, she is living with her mother and her martial status is listed as "Divorced".  At 20 in 1940.  I remember that my mother-in-law said that Hazel was learning to be a pilot during the 1940's so maybe there is a record of her receiving a private pilot license.

Find-a-Grave shows that Hazel E Drake b 1920 is buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery in De Soto County, Florida.  She died in 1955 which would certainly fit in with having died at a young age.  In the same cemetery there is buried a Lawrence W Drake b 1905 and died in 1977.  This would seem to support the reference to Florida that I had heard mentioned.  In family referenced it seemed that Larry either was a pilot or was a flying instructor during WWII.

Further research on Hazel indicates that Hazel Elizabeth Drake died Nov 1957 in De Soto County, FL.  Lawrence Wilson Drake died 3 June 1977 in Sarasota County, Florida.  This is according to the Florida Death Index 1877 - 1998.  Another mystery since her tombstone says she died in 1955 and the Florida Death Index says 1957.

The mysteries uncovered this past week are causing me to look again at what I have recorded for Hazel and Larry Drake and hopefully I will be able to flesh out their story more completely.  I have learned to look again at what I think I know.

Sempsrott/Semsrott/Semsroth - Surname Saturday

My husband's grandmother Naomi's maiden name was Sempsrott.  At some point she had given my husband a family tree that covered the years from 1829, when his great great grandfather Frederich Albert Sempsrott was born in Germany, through 1947 when the trail ended.  After we retired to Florida in 1992, my husband came across the paperwork once more and we decided it was time to do something to document the family history.  It seems that their mother, Anna, feared they would be drafted into military service and so she put them on a ship bound for the United States.  Family legend reports that two brothers, Frederich Albert and Johann Heinrich were stowaways on a ship that left Berlin and they ended up in Cincinnati, Ohio.  From Cincinnati the two brothers traveled to southern Illinois settling in Jasper County.  At some point probably in the 1870s, Johann and his family moved to the Covington, Kentucky area while Frederich and his family remained to farm in Jasper County, Illinois.

This family is one of many which has variant spellings to challange the genealogist.  Some of the variations have included Simperoot, Samscrott, Samesroth, Sempsrote, Sompcrott, Semprote and Samsrott.  In Germany the name appears as Semsrott.  Some have traced the name back to Asendorf, Germany in 1583.  This is about the time Sweden invaded northern Germany.  If this is true could the Semsrotts be descendants of the Sammen (Swedes)?  Still working on this line as every spelling needs to be checked out.

A Son's Tribute

David Lee Peterson 1 June 1939 to 24 Oct 2005

Today is the 7th anniversary of my husbands death and I am posting a tribute to Dave written by our son David.  I quote with honor.

"On my Dad’s Birthday My Mom, Donna, told everyone about David Lee Peterson.  I am going to attempt to follow her by telling everyone about him as my father.  Growing up, my Dad went beyond being a good provider for the family.  I cannot remember a time where the family went without anything.  I remember that we always had food, a nice home, and clothes.  But that doesn’t tell you anything that you wouldn’t expect from any father. 

Dad was always supportive.  Mom said how he stepped up to become a Scout Leader when I was both a Cub Scout and later a Boy Scout.  Without his support and guidance I would have never become the Boy Scout I take pride in being.  I reached the rank of Eagle Scout because of Dads support.  Being involved in the Boy Scouts wasn’t just about me; Dad was an active participant as well taking on leadership roles beyond the local troop level.  He served on the staff at the National Jamboree in 1985, He attended a training called Wood Badge where adult leaders are trained in scouting in the troop format being assigned to an eight person patrol.  At the end of the training, he was selected as the permanent Patrol Leader for his Patrol.  I was also privileged to serve as the Night Chief when Dad was “Called Out” to receive the Order of the Arrows Vigil Honor, an honor that is rarely awarded to adults like Dad.  I know that outside of Scouting this won’t mean much, but they are distinguished honors that he richly earned.

Now looking at my Dad as an adult I think understand why people were drawn to him.  I believe that he would be there to listen to them without judgment and only if they wanted it would he offer his opinion or advice.  Sometime people just needed someone to listen to and not fix what was wrong.  I remember that during a gathering, it didn’t matter what type, he would find a spot at a table in the back corner of the room and pick a spot where he could survey the room.  Soon, all types of people would congregate to that table where everyone would be sharing “War Stories”, jokes, solving world problems, or just pontificating on whatever was on their minds.  Dad would be sitting there with a smile and throwing his two cents worth in as well and soon the rest of the room was a secondary event.

At a recent work dinner for a group of employees in from around the US and Canada that I was the one at the back corner table with the group of people gathered around while I shared the war stories and had the attention of the group.  Then I had one of those “A Ha” moments and thought of Dad.

After Mom and Dad retired to Florida I didn’t see them as often as I should have and that is no one’s fault but my own.  I didn’t know any of Dads friends from Church or the Knights of Columbus but I know he believed he belonged to the right Parish for him and that he was proud of the Knights of Columbus chapter he was a member of and that he was a big part of bringing a foundering chapter back to a strong chapter. 

I lost Dad too soon.  He was the greatest man I have ever had the honor of knowing and the best thing is he is my Father.  He and my Mother made me who I am today and every day I hope that I am living up to their expectations and that I make them proud.   Dad, I Love You and Miss You and still think about you daily. 

David Michael Peterson.

p.s. The night Dad died I had fallen asleep with my blanket only half on and at some point it was flipped up over my head waking me up.  Dad covering me one last time.   Then when moving Mom out of the house in Florida I “Inherited” Dads beloved avocado green electric carving knife.  I went to use it on Christmas and suddenly I could not find the blades.  The next day as I am putting the clean dishes away I find the blades in the drawer right on top of the other silverware.  Dads sense of humor I guess."

Thank you David for your insight and sharing your perception of your Dad.  

Seven Years Ago

Seven years ago this date fell on a Sunday. It was our 41st Anniversary but we didn't do anything special.  Our relationship was special every day.  Dave and I went to church where we were eucharistic ministers. After church, we went to our local Publix for supplies.  South Florida was getting ready for a hurricane and we saw several friends at the store.  I remember we discussed driving up to Tampa to ride out the hurricane taking aim at the Naples/ Ft Myers area.

Instead of heading to Tampa, we went home with our supplies.  Dave spent the afternoon boarding the windows to protect the house.  Between putting up boards, there was football to watch and that night the White Sox won the second game of the World Series.  We had a nice steak dinner since we didn't know when we would be able to cook after the hurricane.  Little did I realize how prophetic that was.

That evening Dave had a phone call from his sister Pat and another from an old friend and co-worker.  Nothing in the events of this day could possibly indicate how very awfull the next day would be.

The next day I woke to find Hurricane Wilma doing her best to destroy our house and Dave laying on the floor of our bedroom.  We had no power but we did have phone service.  Dave was unresponsive but the storm needed to pass on before I could call EMS.  Finally I could call 911 and they came immediately.  After it was determined that Dave needed to be transported, they had to figure which hospital could accept Dave.  When the ambulance I called a friend and asked for a ride to the hospital.  Dave was in the emergency room and still unresponsive.  X-rays showed severe head trauma with massive bleeding in the brain.  Since the operating room at the hospital was unusable (hurricane damage) Dave was transported to Lee Memorial Hospital in Ft Myers.  After meeting with the neurosurgeon, with a discouraging prognosis, I decided not to have surgery attempted.  Dave and I had discussed this part of our lives and I knew he wouldn't want this kind of life.

The plan was that I would come back the next day and make that hard decision.  I never went back to the hospital.  Late that night I got a call from the hospital that Dave had died.  The day was over and it was time to mourn and move on.

Doors of Faith - Oberselters, Hesse, Germany

St Antonius Catholic Church, Oberselters, Hesse, Germany

This church was the home of my German Burbach ancestors as far back as 1732.  I have read the records of marriages and baptisms of this church.  Oberselters was a small village outside of Bad Camberg.  The Burbach family attended this church until recent times and may still be members there.  The name still appears in the cemetery.  My Great-great-grandfather Georg Burbach left Oberselters about 1848 and traveled to the nearby village of Villmar where he met and married Catharina Casperi.  They remained in Villmar until 1856 when they immigrated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin with their sons Hermann and Johann after burying their son Adam in Villmar in 1854.

We visited this church in 2003 and took this photo of an informational plaque posted on the wall.

Photo of St Antonius Church, Oberselters by ({Information |Description = Kirche St. Antonius Bad Camberg-Oberselters, Deutschland|Source = selbst fotografiert |Date = 26.01.2008|Author = Volker Thies (Asdrubal) |Permission = siehe unten |other_versions = }}  used under the creative commons license.