Mack Bax Information

Denis from findagrave.com was so kind as to copy this for me from the Litchville North Dakota History Book 1900-2000, Copyright 2000.  Page 236. He also scanned these pictures in of Mac and Rose.

Mack Theodore Bax was born March 7, 1909, at Mary Home, MO, the son of Peter and Mary Ann (Lampe) Bax.  Peter and Mary were married in 1902.  Peter died August 13, 1981, and Mary Ann April 22, 1955, in Missouri.  Mack Bax came to North Dakota in 1931.

Rose Ida Miller was born May 9, 1909, to Fred W. and Anna E. (Heise) Miller at Marion, ND.  Fred Miller had been born in Germany and emigrated from there in 1903.  Anna Heise was born in Mitchell County, Iowa, to William and Friedrika Heise May 15, 1874.  William died March 17, 1917, and Friedrika February 9, 1918, and are both buried in the Trinity Lutheran Church Cemetery, south of Litchville.  Fred Miller died January 7, 1959, and Anna Miller died October 25, 1957.  They too are buried in the Trinity Cemetery.

Mack Bax and Rose Miller were married December 19, 1932.  They lived on a farm in the Griswold community until 1960, when they moved into LItchville, where Mack took over a gas station and welding shop.  Ill health force his retirement.  He had been a member of the Litchville Commercial Club and served on the school board in Prairie Township.  Both Mack and Rose were members of Trinity Lutheran Church, south of Litchville.

Two daughters were born to them.  One died in infancy. Ann (Mrs. Hank Schlomer) lives in Monoma, WI.  Mack died September 18, 1968.

After Mack’s death, Rose continued to make her home in Litchville.  She worked for 11 years taking care of the “Meal Site” program of senior citizen’s meals at their center.  She also did many other things for people and families in the community who needed part-time help.  In October of 1985, she moved from her house in Litchville into an apartment at Parklane Homes, where she continued to be a good neighbor.  Rose died April 28, 1994.  Both Mack and Rose are buried in the Trinity Lutheran Church Cemetery.

Visit with Aunt Millie

Had a wonderful time yesterday visiting Aunt Millie. Mary, Mom, and I went up for the day and sat and talked for a good while.

It was a wonderful visit and I got to ask a few questions, scan a few pictures, and bring home an amazing family treasure.

First the pictures which were given to Aunt Millie by Great Great Aunt Lucille (Veronica's sister)

George Bax, Fritz Bax, Mac Bax, Louis Gerling

 I found it funny that Great Grandpa Louis has his coat up as if to hide his face.  We all know Grandma was a fan of putting her hand in front of hers. I guess it was a family trait. LOL

Veronica Bax Gerling

Veronica Bax Gerling

Top: L-Marie Bax? I dont believe this is Veronica's sister. Veronica Bax Gerling
Bottom: Francis Gerling? Edward Gerling

Same woman and little boy from above with the addition of a man
Veronica Bax Gerling, Ed Gerling on Right

Bottom row: Veronica Bax Gerling, George Bax, Regina Gerling, Fritz Bax
Second row: Mac Bax and Mame Gerling
In the back: Louis Gerling

Unknown - but look at the car!

We talked some about the Bax's and where they went.  It was mentioned that Mac and Fred may have been in the WPA, but that they and Pete and Lambert made their way to North Dakota to work.  I found Mac's findagrave memorial and contacted Dennis Olson, who had posted a picture of him.

This is what he said when I asked if he was related in some way to Mack Bax: Sorry, I'm not related to Mack nor do I have any more pictures. My wife and I went through the Litchville Museum pictures and copied and I put them on Find-A-Grave. I can copy and paste the information of Mack and Rose from the Litchville history book published in 2000. Mack and Rose lived on the homestead of my great aunt and uncle when I first knew them. He was on the threshing crew that my father was on. I believe Pete Bax was on the same crew. I have been adding obituaries where ever I can of people from my home neighborhood. If you want you could send me your e-mail and I'll copy from the book.

I am waiting for information from the history book he mentioned. 

Aunt Millie went on to say that while Mac and Fred stayed up North, Lambert and Pete came back with Pete staying in Missouri and Lambert moving on to Texas. When they came to visit after being there, they had an accent that none of the rest of them had (probably the influence of living among the locals ;) )

I am going to start doing more research on Grandma Veronica's siblings and see what I can find.  

About Frederick Lampe (b. 12/31/1839 Lastrup, Germany, d. 8/22/1914) who was discussed in a previous post. He was Peter's father-in-law and Veronica's maternal Grandfather.  At the end of his life he was blind but Veronica described him as red headed teacher. He lived with Peter and Mary (his daughter) and would help Veronica with her schoolwork.  One night she came home with long division and didn't know how to do it. He worked through it with her, but when she got to school she couldn't say how she got the answers that she did.

For Veronica, German was spoken in the school and church until about the 8th grade when there was a switch into English, which may have been due to the anti-German sentiment brought on by WWI.  She remembered that every Christmas mass had been spoken in German before then, but that year it was said in English.. or at least broken English.

She and Peter (I think?) would often speak in German, whereas Grandpa Louis Gerling didn't ever really speak it.

Finally, I got the most amazing gift from Aunt Millie, besides getting to spend time with her of course! ;) But I'm going to write about that in my Week 8 of #52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 7 - Valentine

I kind of mulled over this one for a bit.  At first I was thinking that I didn't have any Valentine's day traditions, but then I remembered.. as a kid Grandma and Grandpa would always send a valentine's day card with a 2 dollar bill within it.

I'm not sure if I still have one of those cards yet, or not, but its a memory that snuck up on me while I was contemplating what to write about today. So, because my memory is of them for this day, here are some pictures of them together. :)

Brady and Clark(e): My 4th Great Grandparents?

So anyone who tries to find their Irish immigrant family and their family in Ireland knows that it can sometimes very difficult to do so.  You have to know the county they came from in Ireland, then the parish, and even then there are so few records. And lets not get started on Irish naming practices. We know how many John, Joe, Michael, Phil, etc there are in the Buckley family.

Tonight I think I can say with more strength though, that we may have a further generation back. I dont want to say that with 100% certainty, but I want to say it is VERY possible.

So here we go:

John Brady was born in Ireland. This we know through all the census.

1860: Choconut, Susquehanna, PA

1870: Plains Twp, Luzerne, PA

1880: Liberty Twp, Susquehanna, PA

1900: Dickson City, Lackawanna, PA

Important information from census records:

• States he immigrated in 1845
• Married for 56 years in 1900- 1844 (this would make him 13 at the time of his marriage if he was born May 1831 as state in 1900. So I believe one of these two things to be incorrect.)
• Both of his parents were born in Ireland

His family is as follows:

Wife: Mary Mullen

Children: 

1. Mary
2. Lawrence
3. Bartholamew
4. Patrick
5. Margaret
6. James
7. John

Today I received an email from an ancestry user who had done their DNA test.  This was their question: "Per ancestry DNA we are forth cousins. I think the match is between your John J Brady family and my John Clark family. In 1860 they lived one farm away from one another in Choconut PA."

I immediately took notice due to the Clark name, so I went and looked.

1860 Census showing John Brady family (in green/yellow and John Clark in yellow one farm away)

John Clark, above, was born circa 1805 in Ireland. 

Back to John Brady (my 3rd great grandfather and John Clark's neighbor).

Notice he has a child named Barthalomew.  When I went looking for Brady families in Susquehanna County in 1860 I found:

1860 census showing Bartholomew Brady Family in Silver Lake

As you can see there is a Bartholomew Brady in Silver Lake, Susquehanna County and it is not that far away from Choconut where the John Brady family was living. I feel like its a unique enough name that the two might be related, and John named his son after this man.   

It would roughly be a 3 hour walk, or 1 hour bike ride. Not sure about by horse.

Now where do the Clarks come in to play? Well, Bartholomew Brady's wife's maiden name was Clark which was evidenced by their daughter Roseanna's death certificate.

Maiden name of mother: Rose Clark - will have to research to see how informant Mrs. J H Shea is related.

Roseanna Clark Brady was born roughly 1796 so she may well have been John Clark, John Brady's neighbor's, older sister. 

It appears, at least by the 1850 and 1860 census, John immigrated much sooner than Bartholomew and Roseanna as he had a son born in Canada in 1833.  Perhaps he wrote back to his remaining family in Ireland. It was during the 40's that the potato famine hit Ireland, and this may have been the push the Brady family needed to immigrate.  Bartholomew does not appear on a census (That I could find) before 1850, and John (his possible son) states his immigration year as 1845.

I have been unable to find John Brady in the 1850 census though Bartholomew is living Silver Lake in 1850 and John Clark is living in Choconut already (there are quite a few Clark families living in Choconut actually)

Digging further into Bartholomew and Roseanna Clark Brady I found their tombstone on findagrave.com.

St. Augustine Cemetery, Brackney, Susquehanna, Pennsylvania
Rosa Brady Died 3/15/1873. aged 77 years (inferred DOB 1796)
Bartholomew Brady Died 1/1?/1878. aged 83 years (inferred DOB 1795)
Findagrave

What is so wonderful about this tombstone is the inscription "Natives of Parish of Clonbroney County of Longford, Ireland" - This is amazing, because it gave me a place to look. Also the person who contacted me has their John Clark being from County Longford in Ireland too!!

Also, notice that John Clark had a daughter named Roseanna.

There aren't many records online that I could find, I would definitely have to see about what is microfilmed or if I can reach out to someone within that parish in Ireland.  In the meantime though I went looking for any transcribed documents and came across this site - The Genealogy of County Longford Ireland. 

And look! A John Brady baptized July? 1828 to a Bartholomew Brady and ? Clarke. 

In the 1900 census John states his birthdate is May 1830 or at least that is what the census taker wrote down.  This may not be correct.  I rarely believe what census state as birthdates. But as there is a discrepancy this is why I can't 100% state these are his parents - but based off all the other information and the DNA relation, I feel that they may very well be.

All the circumstantial evidence summed up:

• Bartholomew Brady and John Brady are living in the same county in 1860. 
• John Brady has a son named Bartholomew
• John Brady is living one farm away from John Clark who was from County Longford, Ireland
• Bartholomew Brady's wife was Roseanna Clark - both of them were from County Longford, Ireland.
• John Clark had a daughter named Roseanna
• The DNA match

As a side note - 

⇨ You will see some people on ancestry listing a Lawrence Brady and Mary Clark as the parents of John Brady, however they are doing so based off of this death certificate:

This however is NOT our John Brady. This John Brady was married to Mary McFarland and lived in East Union, Schulykill, PA.  I can definitely understand where the confusion comesin as this family had the following children: Lawrence ,Mary, John, Margaret, Rose, and Bernard, and our John had: Mary, Lawrence, Bartholmaew, Patrick, Margaret, James, and John.

It is completely possible that this John Brady was related in some way, but it is NOT our John. 

What we do know is that OUR John Brady most likely died between 1900 and 1910.

His wife, Mary Mullen Brady passed away in 1909 and she was a widow at that time.  It is most likely that John Brady passed way before 1906 since its after this year the death certificates are online for.  It also probably happened in Dickson City as this is where they were living in 1900 and where Mary died in 1909.  She is buried in St Patricks in Olyphant, PA.  I'm not sure where John is buried and I am unsure if I can get a copy of his death certificate (if there is one) without the exact date of his passing. 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 6 - Favorite Name

For Week 6's prompt - how could I not go with Erue?!

A name that I still am not sure on how to pronounce.  I thought maybe it was pronounced something like "ROO-EE" Mainly because of census records, and I think thats the way Grandpa said it.  In the 1900 census her name is written as "Ruey," and is written that way also in the 1910 census. Then in the 1920 census it states correctly "Erue"

1900 Census

1910 Census

1920 Census

From the census we can gather that either:

1. The census taker for 1900 and 1910 wrote the name down as he heard it meaning that it is pronounced Ruey
2. Erue went by a nickname, Ruey, rather than her full name of Erue.
3. This LINK will take you to a site where you can hear three different pronunciations of the name. 

For me, I think I'll just go with the pronunciation of "Ruey" whether that was the way she said her proper name or not, it was definitely how she was called at some point in her life.

Moving on, the name Erue is not a Wing family name and is in fact a Benedict name. A short run down of where the Benedict line comes:

1. Jehial Wing m. Cynthia Benedict
2. Benedict Wing m. Martha Elma Stanley
3. Joseph Adalaska Wing m. Alice Jane Leach
4. Erue Elma Wing

So Erue was named for her grandmother (middle name Elma) and other women within the Benedict family.

Here are two of the women who were also named Erue.

1. Rue Benedict (1798-1829) daughter of Ezra Benedict and Eunice Bull
2. Rue Benedict (1819) daughter of Isaac Benedict and Rebecca Wing - sister of Cynthia Benedict above.

It is after this that we see the Erue name being passed down through the Wings (at least to my knowledge).

As always if you have any information on how the name is properly said within this family, please share. If I find out I will update this post. :)

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 5 - In the Census

I think for this prompt, I'll follow an individual through census records.

I've decided on Jennie Henry, Grandma James's mother. :)

1891 Canadian Census - Upper Musquodoboit
She is listed as Jannet Henry, siblings Robert, martha, Susan, Tupper, Mehitabel, Dorothy. 
Jennie is one year old.  Parents are Charles and Elizabeth Henry.

Google map of location of family in 1891

Satellite view of Upper Musquodoboit, Nova Scotia, Canada

1901 Canadian Census - Upper Musquodoboit, Halifax County, Nova Scotia
Jennie Henry is the daughter of Charles and Elizabeth Henry. 
Her siblings are, Tupper, Susan, Mehitabel, Dorothy, John, and Annie.
Her father was methodist and a farmer.

1911 Candian Census - Upper Musquodoboit, Halifax County, Nova Scotia
Jennie Henry is the daughter of Charles and Elizabeth Henry.
 Her siblings are, Dorothy, John, Lydia (annie above), and Ada.

We know that Jennie and William Golden married in 1912 in Saskatchewan so we know between the years of January 1911 and September 1912 (when they married) she traveled from Upper Musquodoboit to Saskatchewan.

Marriage place was: Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada

Map showing one of the possible routes from Upper Musquodoboit to Weyburn, Saskatchewan.

As you can see it was a long journey! I dont know yet why she chose to go there, except to maybe find work? Did she have family there? Does anyone know?

1920 United States Census - Jim Henry Township, Miller County, Missouri
She is listed as the wife of William Golden. Able to read and write. 
Year of immigration was 1912, also naturalized in 1912. 
Mother language was english. No profession.

After their marriage in 1912, William brought his wife Jennie, back to Missouri to live.  They must not have lived in Saskatchewan very long as the birth of their son, Earl, was in Missouri in 1913.

Map view of Upper Musqodoboit to Weyburn to Jim Henry Township

View of Jim Henry Township (in dark grey)

1930 United States Census - Henley, Cole County, Missouri
Listed as wife of Will Golden. She was 22 years old at time of marriage.
 Language spoken in home before coming to USA was French (contradicts 1920 census). 
Naturalized and immigrated in 1912.

1940 United States Census - Schuetz Road, Clayton, St. Louis County, Missouri
Wife of head of house, William Golden. Finished the 8th Grade, born in Canada English.
In 1935 the family was still living in Miller County, Missouri. 

View of Schuetz Rd (As it is today)

So through the years this is what the census records told us about Jennie:

1. She was born in Upper Musquodoboit, Halifax County, Nova Scotia March 23, 1890.
2. She was of Scottish descent.
3. She was probably brought up in the faith of her parents - Presbyterian.
4. Her childhood was most likely spent in a rural location - her father was a farmer.
5. She completed elementary school into the 8th grade, but had no other formal education.
6. Her immigration/naturalization year is 1912 which is the year she married William Golden
7. Between 1912 and 1913 they left Canada for Missouri
8. She lived in Jim Henry Township / Henley / and finally St. Louis, Missouri
9. She did not work outside the home (at least not in 1940).

Map View of Jennie's census record places throughout her life
Upper Musquodoboit to Weyburn, to Jim Henry Township/Henley to Clayton, Missouri

From 1891 to 1940 Jennie sure traveled a lot of ground! This doesn't even include the times she and Grandpa Golden traveled back Nova Scotia to visit her family.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 4 - Invite to Dinner

This one is a little tough, because I have loved ones I would love to see again, but if I had to choose based on solely genealogy questions - it would be that darn Randolph "Randell" James from Tennesse!

Seriously! It's like he just popped out of the earth!

Mushu gets my frustration LOL

But in all honesty, he has been my brick wall for quite a while.   I know he existed, because well, I exist, and some bare bones facts, but cant figure out who his parents were, if he had any siblings, is the other James family in Sevier county at the time related?! 

I have devoted so much time to this man, if he sat down for dinner, first I'd introduce myself. 

I'm your great great great great Granddaughter, and Sir, you have a lot of descendants. And all of us are frustrated with your squirreliness and your decision to put yourself somewhere, where a fire destroyed the courthouse. How am I supposed to locate your documents!?

I'd ask - 

Who is your Father? Your Mother? Where are you from? Are you from Virginia, Tennessee, or from none of those - because your children couldn't seem to agree. Where did you marry your wife? How did you meet?

What is your favorite color? 

Do we share any of the same characteristics? 

Grandpa Randall James send me a breakthrough if you cant answer! 

And I'm sure I'd have so many more questions for him. But I guess I'm stuck trying to find the answers by piecing together all the puzzle pieces of crumbs of information I DO have. :( Bummer.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 3 - Longevity

Longevity...

So we all know that Grandpa Bax lived to be 101, but did you know that Margaretta Adelaide Lammers lived to be just shy of 100 (at least according to the newspapers ;) )

Margaretta Adelheid Lammers Hollenbeck
1831/1837-1930
B. Twist, Germany D. Miller County, Missouri

Margaretta Adelaide Lammers is Louis Gerling's Grandmother
(so my Grandma's Great Grandmother, and my Great Great Grandmother)

According to my research Margaretta was born February 28, 1837 in Twist, Germany, which was at that point in the Kingdom of Hanover, on the boarder of the Netherlands.  

Her birth date is a bit contentious, according to the newspaper article (excerpt provided below) she was born in 1831 if she were 99 in 1930.  More information about that later!

She was the daughter of Johann Heinrich Lammers and Anna Catherine Schweiters. She was the oldest out of her siblings. Her father died when she was very young, in 1844, and her mother remarried to Herman Heinrich Mollers. 

The family emigrated from Germany to the United states in 1852 and on May 28, 1867 she married Herman Heinrich Hollenbeck in Osage County, Missouri.

Herman Heinrich was a widower and had 7 children from 2 previous marriages.

To Margaretta and Herman they had 4 children:

1. Herman Heinrich Hollenbeck
2. Catherine Hollenbeck
3. Sophia  Hollenbeck (who married Herman Joseph Gerling)
4. Gertrude Josephine Hollenbeck

Through the years she  lived in Crawford Township in Osage County, Boone Township in Maries County, and Jim Henry Township in Miller County, Missouri.

After her husband passed in 1901, she was head of the house of 1910, but then in 1920 she was living with her daughter Sophia and her son-in-law Herman Gerling. 

Published March 10, 1930 Jefferson City, Missouri

Four Generations at Mrs. Hollenbeck's 99th Birthday Party

Mrs. Adelaide Hollenbeck celebrated her 99th birthday at Meta yesterday with four generations present.

Mrs. Hollenbeck has resided in the Meta neighborhood for more than 75 years and is probably one of the best known women in that section of the state.

Despite her advanced age she has retained full possession of all her faculties and enjoyed the party as much as anyone present.

Among the eighty guests present were the following from this city: Mrs Theodore Gerling, a daughter; Mrs. Jerry Goller, a grand daughter, Louis Gerling, a grand son; and Mrs. Mary Price,  a great grand daughter.

I am unsure how the years got mixed up either way.  

In the census records:

1870: 33 years

1880: 45 years

1900: 62 years

1910: 70 years

1920: 86 years

There was no consistency, and it seemed every census year her birth year got pushed back. Maybe she didn't know it?  She was christened on March 1, maybe this was the reason for her birthday being March 7 on her death certificate.  I got my birth information from a website, perhaps it was incorrect. Or perhaps her birth was documented on something she brought with her and the christened date of 3/1/1837 was read as 3/7/1831?  and used for her birthdate?

Either way, according to the newspaper she was 99 ;) as well as her death certificate

And then to confuse the issue even more - there's a different birthdate (March 10, 1831) on the tombstone!

Whether she was 92 or 99 or some age in between, she saw so many changes and experienced during that time. She went from living in Germany on the dutch border to living in the Midwest. At that time there were only 31 states in the Union, with California just joining in the year prior to her arrival.

When she and her family left in 1852, the King of Hanover until 1851 Ernest August, the fifth son of King George the III (You'll remember King George III as Mad King George ;) ) and the uncle of Queen Victoria.

Ernest Augustus circa 1850 (source)

The year before the departure, Ernest Augustus died and the new King was his son, George V.

George V King of Hanover 1851-1866

When the family arrived in the states, Millard Fillmore was the 13th president of the United States.  She was now in a country without King and Queens. 

Millard Fillmore circa 1850s (source)

Think of the events she was privy to. She experienced the world as it fought in the Civil War and World War I. About 6 months before her death, the stock market crashed. 

I included some of the inventions/patents that would take place at the beginning of her life, and those at the end. You can certainly google what happened in between, it was just way too much to put on here. But for example in 1830 the Lawn Mower was patented in England, and 100 years later, in 1930 the Jet engine was patented.

Fom 1830-1840 in the first 10 years of her life:

1830	Lawn Mower	England	by Edwin Budding
1830	Sewing Machine	France	by Barthelemy Thimonnier
1831	Electric Dynamo	England	by Michael Faraday
1833	Electric Telegraph	Germany	by Gauss and Weber
1834	Refrigeration	England	by Jacob Perkins from the USA
1835	Mechanical Calculator	England	by Charles Babbage
1835	Propeller	England	by Francis Pettit Smith
1835	Revolver	USA	by Samual Colt - first multi-shot hand gun
1837	Morse Code	USA	by Samuel Morse - for the telegraph
1839	Fuel Cell	England	by William Robert Grove
1839	Vulcanisation	USA	by Charles Goodyear - for rubber
1840	Postage Stamp	England	by Rowland Hill

From 1920-1930 in the last 10 years of her life:

1920	Hair Dryer	Germany
1920	Sticky Plasters	USA	by Earle Dickson
1923	Hearing Aid	England
1923	Television	Scotland	by John Logie Baird
1923	Ultracentrifuge	Sweden	by The Suedberg - separates proteins
1924	Frozen Food	USA	by Clarence Birdseye
1926	Aerosol Sprays	Norway	by Erik Rotheim
1926	Liquid Fuel Rocket	USA	by Robert Goddard
1926	Popup Toaster	USA
1927	Colour Television	Scotland	by John Logie Baird
1927	Quartz Timekeeping	Switzerland	by Hans Wilsdorf from England
1927	Talking Pictures	USA
1927	Videophone	USA
1928	Antibiotics	England	by Alexander Fleming
1928	Iron Lung	USA	by Philip Drinker
1930	Jet Engine	England	by Frank Whittle
1930	Sticky Tape	USA

(source)

If I learn more about her life, I will add it. If you have information about her please feel free to comment!