Here's to Public Trees!

Many people have asked why is your tree on-line?  It is cousin bait.  As recently as last week I made several new connections.

Christiania, Norway 1814

My Hansen tree has found several connections over the years, the most recent being a descendant of my Grandfather Adolph's half-sister Edit Bull Hansen.  My Grandfather Adolph came to the United States with his sister Dagny and brother Artur shortly after his father's re-marriage and before Edit was born. Edit married Harald De Lange and had had five sons. This week I was contacted by Liv from Norway who has the De Lange family as part of her tree.  Previously I had connected with the De Lange family through my blog "Hanging from the Family Tree".  Anders De Lange was reading my blog to his Grandmother Edit and he emailed me with some questions.  Anders and I have kept in touch and he has provided me with some critical information.  He told me about two of my Grandfather's siblings of which I had no knowledge.  Einer Adolf was born in 1885 and Aagot Dorette was born in June 1887.  Aagot died in June 1887 and her mother died 4 July 1887.  Anders also sent me copies of the death notices of Aagot and Dorette from the Oslo newspapers and a picture of the house where my Great-Grandfather was born in 1852.

I currently have public trees at Ancestry.com, , MyHeritage, and FamilySearch and they have all helped me make connections to branches of my tree.  All three sites will search in the background whether I am at my computer or not.

Saturday Genealogy Fun - Which Date is the Correct Birth Date for Alice?

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- The Date Your Grandmother Was Born

It's Saturday Night, 

time for more Genealogy Fun!!

For this week's mission (should you decide to accept it), I challenge you to:1)  What day of the week was your Grandmother born (either one)? Tell us how you found out.

2)  What event was a headline in the newspapers on that date?  Tell us how you found out.

3) What has happened in recorded history on your Grandmother's birth date (day and month)? Tell us how you found out, and list five events.

4)  What famous people have been born on your Grandmother's birth date?  Tell us how you found out, and list five of them.

5)  Put your responses in your own blog post, in a comment on this blog post, or in a status or comment on Facebook.

Because it is St Patrick's Day, I have chosen to begin with my Irish Grandmother Alice Fleming Connery,  According to family tradition, Alice was born to Thomas and Mary Hennessy Fleming on 1 January 1872 in Ballylanders, Co Limerick, Ireland.  Although Irish Civil Registration provides this information:

Alace Fleming

Ireland Births and Baptisms

Name:	Alace Fleming
Gender:	Female
Birth Date:	31 Dec 1871
Birthplace:	Limerick, Ireland
Father's Name:	Thomas Fleming
Mother's Name:	Mary Hennessy

Indexing Project (Batch) Number: C01237-8 , System Origin: Ireland-EASy , GS Film number:255846 , Reference ID: v 4-2 p 993 *

I cannot at this time determine which is the correct date although I suspect that the actual birth was 31 Dec 1871 with a baptism date of 1 Jan 1871.  Perhaps this summer when the Catholic Church records for Ireland are released the actual date can be determined.  For this project I will use both dates.  

Alice was born either on Sunday 31 Dec 1871 or on Monday 1 Jan 1872.  To determine this I used a google search for the phrase "calender January 1872"

These were the headlines in the New York Times on 31 Dec 1871 and below are the headings from the Chicago Tribune for 1 Jan .1872.

For this information I accessed my newspapers.com account.

Wordless Wednesday - First Communion circa 1914

 

Genabloggers - Surname Saturday Burbach and Associated Families

As one of my genealogy goals for 2011, I plan to work on one family per month and clean up my files, find new information, and cite sources.  For January I am beginning with 


BURBACH - Milwaukee, WI and Hesse Nassau, Germany
                        (also Heer, Meurer, Probst and others)


My Burbach line is from Oberselters, Hesse-Nassau, Germany.  The family lived in Oberselters as far back as 1732 and began the migration to the United States in the 1850s.   Church records show marriages into the Heer, Muerer, Probst, Kreppel, and Schwartz families among others.  The Burbachs from Oberselters were farmers and became grocers, butchers, farmers, and newsmen.
Various branches of the family settled in Milwaukee, WI, St Louis, MO, and Harris County, Texas.


As I persue this family, I often reflect on the courage it took to travel to a new country, learn a new language, and learn a new trade.  I am sure their faith gave them strength and comfort as they have retained it to this generation.  

SNGF - My Best Genealogy Gift

I received 2 genealogy help gifts this year for Christmas.  The first was a cashmere sweater which will keep me warm when I do my volunteer work at my local Family History Center.  It is so cold that there is a space heater in the room.  Most of us just keep our coats on.  This is in south Texas!

The second gift I received was a Nook book reader.  This will let me search for and download reference materials.  My library also has e-books available to borrow via download.  It's a whole new environment to explore.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas Cards

Sometime after Thanksgiving every year, Mom would begin addressing the cards to be sent from our family.  I'm not sure when they were actually mailed.  They were always signed and adressed by hand.  This was before the era of the "Christmas Letter".

During the Christmas Season we often got 2 mail deliveries a day!  As children we would eagerly race to collect the mail and bring it in to be sorted.  We knew that if it was addressed to our parents, they would open it.  If the envelope had the additional words "and Family" it was ok for the kids to open.

After being duly opened and admired, the cards were put into a special tray to be admired over and over.  I don't remember seeing that tray at any other time of year.  It was a burgundy fan shaped tray with a gold fruit motif across the top.  I think it was made of aluminium.  After the holidays the cards were used for art and craft projects.

After I married, my husband and I continued the card tradition and displayed our cards on ribbon attached to a wall or door.  I think we did do a Christmas letter after we moved to Florida so we could let family and friends know what was happening in our lives and the lives of our children.

Advent Calendar - December 1, 2010 The Christmas Tree

Hansens circa 1958

The Christmas Tree!  O Tannenbaum! 

 Growing up in the mid-west in the 1950's we had a live tree.  Dad always put the lights and ornaments on , after carefully checking each bulb.  In those days if one bulb went out, the whole string went out.  We, the kids, got to put on the tinsel.  It was the individual strands of tinsel that were to be hung separately.  I will admit that throwing the tinsel by the handful was much quicker.  Yes, we had a star on top of the tree!

Genabloggers Military Monday - Who served?

When I began doing genealogy, I knew from my ancestral background that there were probably no American military men in the background.  My immigrants were too recent.  But once I began researching my husband's family, I began to wonder about the soldiers I would find among his ancestors.

 

Dave's Ferguson line appears in York Co, Virginia as early as 1670.  Time and place alone would suggest that there would be some Revolutionary soldiers in the family.  Yesterday at the library, I picked up volume 2 of Genealogical Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Files.abstracted by Virgil D White.  On page 1234  the surname Ferguson appears.  Of the many Fergusons listed is John Ferguson, born 15 Jan 1755 in York, VA.  The abstract details the family's moves from Virginia to North Carolina, Ohio, and finally Boone Co, Indiana where John died in 1842.

There is more to learn as I begin to navigate the NARA files, but it will provide lots of details about John.s life as a Revolutionary soldier. 

Genabloggers - Wordless Wednesday - Sister Act

 
Sisters who became Sisters.
Mary Elizabeth and Alice Josephine Connery aka
Sister Michael Joseph and Sister Marie Camilla, O.P.

Genabloggers - Church Record Sunday - Scandanavian Records

Copy of a Swedish Household Inventory from Quidinge, Varmland circa 1855.

I have both Norwegians and Swedes in my sights as I work on my genealogy.  As such I have found the Church records of both Norway and Sweden to be extremely valuable in my research.

Christening records indicate  the names, ages, and residences of the parents.  Godparents (usually relatives) are also listed.  Both birth date and Christening date are indicated.  Careful observation may yield even more information.  For instance I had noticed that in my Great-grandfather's Christening record his mother's name was written before his father's name.  On further checking it was determined that this indicated that his birth was illegitimate.  That is why I could never find a marriage record for his parents.

Marriage records show birth date, place of birth,  residence at time of marriage, parents names, witnesses, occupation, and when vaccinated. 

Other church records might include a household inventory, which like a census shows every member of the family.  It also includes year of birth, and where someone moved to if they left the family.

I have also found German and Hungarian records to be valuable and meticulous.  If only the Irish records hadn't all been held in thatch roofed cottages that burned!

Genabloggers Sports Saturday

Chicago YMCA Basketball (circa 1927)

My dad, Don Hansen (center) played on this team that went to the state level of competition.  While we always had a hoop, I'd have to say that none of his nine children played at this level.  I do have one brother that still plays recreational ball on a regular basis.

Military Monday - Allen G W Coan

Military Monday – We all have ancestors who have served in the military. Military Monday is a place to post their images, stories and records of their service in various branches of the military. Military Monday is an ongoing series by Cindy at Everything’s Relative – Researching Your Family History.

 

Allen G W Coan enlisted in the United States Army on 15 April 1896 at Indianapolis, Indiana.  At age 21 he enlisted for three years and was assigned to the 4th Calvary regiment Company B.  Discharged 14 April 1899 as a Corporal, he re-enlisted at the Presidio in California.   He stayed with the 4th Cavalry and the 1900 census shows him to be in Luzon, the Philippines.  He was discharged,  at Fort Riley, Kansas, 14 April 1902 with the rank of Sargent.  After his discharge, he returned to Indiana where he worked for the railroad.

It is of note that his great-grandson served in the Army at the Presidio just before it closed almost 100 years later.

What follows is taken from a history of the 4th Calvary Regiment:

The History of the 4th U.S. Cavalry Regiment

By
John G. Keliher

THE PHILIPPINE INSURRECTION

After the seizure of Manila during the War with Spain by Admiral Dewey the call was made for American ground forces to defend the Philippines. The first regiment to be sent was the 4th Cavalry. Six troops were initially sent in August 1898 to Manila were they were immediately deployed to defend Manila from dissident elements of the Philippine army that resented the American takeover of their islands. Fighting broke out when Filipino forces fired on U.S. Forces. The Americans drove the Filipinos from the city and began a campaign to capture the insurgent capitol of Malolos. Because of a mix-up the 4th Cavalry's horses had been unloaded in Hawaii. Troops E, I and K were mounted on Filipino ponies and participated in the Malolos campaign. The dismounted squadron consisting of Troops C, G and L participated in the capture of Santa Cruz led by Major General Lawton. (He had served in the 4th Cavalry as a 1st Lieutenant and Captain from 1871 to 1888 and had commanded Troop B during the capture of Geronimo.)

By August 1899 the rest of the Regiment had arrived in the Philippines. In the fall of 1899 the 4th Cavalry moved north under General Lawton to capture the insurgent President Aguinaldo. Severe fighting took place and in the small town of San Mateo and General Lawton was killed in action.

In January 1901 the Regiment was assigned pacification duties in the southern part of Luzon. On 31 September 1901 the tour of duty in the Philippines ended for the Regiment. The 4th Cavalry had participated in 119 skirmishes and battles. The Regiment's three squadrons were reassigned to Fort Leavenworth and Fort Riley Kansas and Jefferson Barracks Missouri, the birthplace of the regiment. In 1905 the 4th returned once again to the Philippines and participated in the Jolo campaign on the island of Mindanao.

52 Weeks To Better Genealogy – Challenge 38

52 Weeks To Better Genealogy – Challenge 38

"Week 38: Investigate Second Life: a 3D virtual world community. Check out the presentation What is Second Life? This learning tool has all the appearances of a video game, but there actually are vibrant genealogy social communities and discussions within the network. Genealogy Wise maintains a group of Second Life genealogists and a calendar of upcoming discussions. You do not have to join Second Life for this challenge. The goal is just to give genealogists exposure to this type of genealogy learning tool."  52 Weeks To Better Genealogy by Amy Coffin is a series of weekly blogging prompts that are a bit more challenging and are geared towards those new to the field of genealogy and family history as well as those who want to brush up on some skills which might be a bit rusty. Please include an attribution link if you participate.

Since it was the second time that day that Second Life had been mentioned to me, I decided to accept this challenge and explore Second Life.   I went to Second Life and watched the tutorials.  It looked pretty easy and seemed like it might be fun to participate.  I did join and looked around some more.  I created an avatar, and played with it, changing physical characteristics and clothes.  I learned how to make it walk and gesture,
teleport and fly.  Kind of neat but very time consuming.   I went back a second time and looked for the grenealogy groups said to be on Second Life.  I think I found 16 groups after lots of searching.  They were difficult to find and some of them are closed to membership.  I never did find the forums or message boards.

I think I will be giving Second Life a miss.  I am fairly experienced both in genealogy and computer usage, and I found it to have a high learning curve.  It might be fun as a source of pure entertainment and I do like the ability to travel and learn in a virtual world, but as a genealogy tool , I think not.  Thanks for the challenge Amy and Thomas.

Surname Saturday - Those Sly Scandinavians

It has been a time honored caveat that Scandinavians used a patronymic naming system.  Yes and No.  I have both Norwegian and Swedish surnames in my family file.

My Swedish Peterson/Neilson line appears to have followed the standard naming convention.  When I found the marriage record of Leopold Peterson and Caroline Neilson the parents names were listed as Peter and Anne for Leopold and Nils and Karna for Caroline.  Peter who?  Last names would have been helpful, but at least I know the naming pattern that was used. 

My Norwegian Hansen/Danielsen ancestors however,  freely changed from the patronymic to using the last name of the father.  My grandfather, Adolph Hansen, was christened under the name Adolph Johannesen.  His father was variously recorded as Johannes Hansen and Adolph Hansen.  My great-grandmother, Dorette Christiansdatter, was also named as Dorette Danielsdatter and her brother became Oskar Daniels.  Their father was Daniel Christians. 


Since this is Surname Saturday, I won't begin to talk about the first name changes.  At least they kept their ages consistent.

Remembering 9/11 - Genabloggers

I was at work and my husband had just returned home when he heard it on the car radio.  As soon as he walked in the door and turned on the television, the second plane hit the towers.  He called me at work and gave me the news.  As we talked, he kept updating me with the latest news.  At the time I worked at a moving company whose trucks had only a dispatch radio.  I remember calling the trucks to give them the news and making the comment " We're at war."  At home after work, we watched the towers crumple time after time in disbelief that this could happen in our country.

Our grandchild was due to be born in Germany, and we had reservations to fly to Germany on Sept 12.  All flights were canceled  and the earliest we could fly to Germany was September 16.  We flew on a German airline and the crew had been grounded in the United States for a week.  They were very anxious to get home.

People asked if we were afraid to fly, but with the security so tight, it was probably was the safest flight I ever took.  One man set off the security alarm and it was determined that it was the foil wrapper on a stick of gum in his packet!

Madness Monday - Hiding Henrietta

I knew she existed.  She was my grandmother!  I knew when and where she was born.  Her parents were Hermann and Eva (Schmitz) Burbach.  Henrietta was born in 1888, the sixth child.  The family lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Given all these known facts, it should have been easy to document Henrietta and her family.  Let me list the ways it drove me to madness.

Henrietta was born August 23, 1888 but her birth record does not appear in the Wisconsin births on ancestry.com.  Since the 1890 census is basically unusable, I decided to concentrate on documenting Henrietta in the 1900 census.  That's the only one where she would appear as Henrietta Burbach, since she was married in 1907.

Hermann Burbach died in 1896 and Eva married Charlie Mueller in 1898.   Given these facts I began searching the 1900 census   There was no entry for Henrietta, so I began looking for Charlie (Charly, Charles, Chas, C) Mueller (Meuller, Muller, Miller) or any other variations I could think of trying.  I tried using the age range of 45 - 55 years old since Eva was born in 1858.  No luck and I couldn't find Eva either.

Finally, I went to Heritage Quest using my library's subscription and used their search because I could search on first name and age only.  She was listed as Hennietta Mueller stepdaughter of Charley Mueller with the birth year of 1886.  Going back and re-checking the Wisconsin Births 1820-1907, still does not yield a record for Henrietta.  I accept the 1900 census listing of Henrietta Mueller as being the correct person because her mother and brothers appear in the same household.  I'm not concerned about the birth year variations since these changes are common for a multitude of reasons.  I'm just glad that Henrietta is no longer hidden.

Wordless Wednesday - Alice Fleming Connery

 
Alice Fleming Connery 

Wordless Wednesday - Michael Joseph Connery 1888

Michael Joseph Connery

1888

Tombstone Tuesday - Ferguson Family

The tombstone of my husband's maternal great-grandparents John and Stella "Dolly" Ferguson in Mound Cemetary, Jasper County, Illinois.

Friday Findings - Documenting a Family Story

When I was a child, our family went to Aunt Kathy's cottage in Indiana every summer.  The cottage was on the shore of Lake Michigan and was the high point of the summer.  For the kids it meant swimming and sand every day, all day.  For mom and dad it meant work of a different kind.  Usually my dad's mother, my grandmother "Bockie", went to the lake with us.  At some point, I noticed that Bockie never, ever went down to the beach, much less into the water.  When I asked why Bockie never went near the water, I was told that when she was a little girl her brother had drowned and since then she had been terrified of the water.

Later as I began doing genealogy, the story of Bockie's brother came back to me.  How to find out if it was true?  In documenting the family of Hermann and Eva Burbach, Bockie's parents, I found the birth of John Burback in January 1881 and his death in 1892.  He was eleven when he died and Bockie was four when her brother died.  Using HeritageQuest Online, I was able to find a diary entry by William Sizer dated May 8, 1892.  The entry said only "...Burbach's boy drowned this PM...".  In my mind this proves the story.