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!