52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 10 - Strong Woman

When I think of strong women, many come to mind, in fact I dont know if I know of any weak women in my family.  But as I dont want to write about recent generations, for privacy reasons, I will write about Margaret Brady.

Just learning what I know of her life makes me think she had to have a strong spirit.

She was born January 20, 1857 in most likely Choconut, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. She was the fifth child of seven, born to John Brady and Mary Mullen Brady.  She was a first generation American, both of her parents having been born in Ireland. When she was just 8 the civil war broke out and being in Pennsylvania she must have heard quite a lot about the events of it.  I am unsure if her father fought in the war or not as John Brady is a rather common name and it is hard to discern him from the others.

In 1860 the family lived in choconut and in 1870 in Plains Township. Between 1870 and 1880 the family must have moved in or around Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania. In 1877 Margaret was working as a nurse at the Wilkes-Barre hospital. She may have started working there as early as 1876 as that is when, according to their site, the Wilkes-Barre City Hospital officially opened.

Wilkes Barre City Hospital Circa 1884 - site

Wilkes Barre City Hospital Circa 1907

It was in that city that Margaret met John Joseph Buckley. According to the Buckley Family Book written by Philip Buckley, Margaret later described their first meeting as love at first sight on her part.  She would say that she wanted to marry that tall, handsome, young Irishman from the first time she laid eyes on him.  The feeling must have been mutual as they quickly fell in love and married on January 20, 1878 in St. Mary's Church of the Immaculate Conception in Wilkes-Barre.

 I found a description of the church in 1872 and this is what John and Margaret would have experienced while being married.

 The church room proper, or auditorium, is the most important and attractive part of the structure.  It is about 60 by 135 feet, and has on the main floor 228 seats, each of which will accommodate six persons.  It has a gallery upon three sides, supported by 24 ornamental iron posts.  There are 88 seats in the gallery which will accommodate at least 528 more persons, making the sitting room of the church sufficient for 1896 grown persons.

     There is room in the aisles and the rear entrance to accommodate several hundred more with temporary seats, if desired.  The sacred emblematic ornamentations about the altar, with the seven high windows upon each side of the church, beautifully distinguished from each other by the varied colors and designs in the glass in each, contribute to make the large room very attractive to visitors and members.  The glass and paintings of the windows at the altar were the gifts of Charles Barry and his wife.  The glass and paintings of the windows of the body of the church were the gifts of different persons and societies, viz: Rosary Society, Terrence Rooney, St. Mary's Benevolent Society, Father Matthew Total Abstinence Society, Mary Campbell, Michael Regan, A. J. Mallery, Allen Walsh, andSt. Joseph.  The six massive gold covered candlesticks, statues of angels, the eight large fluted columns in the rear of the altar, the painting of the crucifixion, the emblems, characters, etc., which adorn and illustrate the inner temple, were fully described by the correspondent referred to and need not be repeated.

     The church is lighted by numerous side gas brackets, without the aid of a ponderous central chandelier, as in older times, to put in peril all those seated under it.  The old organ is used for the present, but everything else is new and creditable.

     There are three front entrances, and stone steps the full width of the building.  In case of emergency the two entrances in the rear would facilitate the exit of an audience.

     In connection with this praiseworthy improvement, the Society erected a three story brick parsonage upon the church lot, only a few feet off, and both buildings are nearly completed, outside and in, and enclosed by a substantial iron fence.

After their marriage, the couple started their wedded life together living with John's older brother, William, and his family above a saloon on North River Street, where William worked as a bar keeper. Within three months of their marriage, Margaret was expecting their first child who would be born almost on their first anniversary, on January 16, 1879. They named her Mary, most likely after Margaret's mother.

Margaret had grown up around the mines, her father had been a miner, as were several of her brothers. Her mother ran a boarding house at the cole mines as well.  She knew well the dangers of the occupation, and didn't want that for her family.  With the promise of more land and opportunities Westward, John set out for North Dakota in the spring of 1880, leaving Margaret and little Mary behind.

Margaret moved into the home of her parents as evidenced by the 1880 census.

Liberty, Susquehanna, Pennsylvania: Listed as Margaret Buckley, daughter of John and Mary Brady.  She was 23, her parents were both born in Ireland, and Mary, age 1, is listed as her daughter. Listed as "at home"

It must have been a hard situation for her, waiting for her husband to send for her, as she took care of her new child. He traveled to Yankton by train and up from there on the Missouri River on a scow to Mandan where he found employment with the N.P. as a section foreman.  Upon getting settled he sent for his small family in Pennsylvania and Margaret and Mary arrived in September of 1880. Their travel included coming to Bismarck by train, crossing the river by ferry, and then coming the rest of the way to Mandan on a switch engine. The below image is from 1885 but is probably very similar to what she would have seen upon her arrival at the depot.

Main St traffic in foreground, original wood depot building circa 1885 after freighthouse expansion. Roundhouse in background - source

John was boarding at the Peoples Hotel (later known as the Mandan Hotel) at the time and that is where Margaret found employment so that she could receive boarding for herself and the baby, and earn twenty dollars a month.

Picture from 1924 - George Peoples, a resident of Bismarck at the time, purchased lots 14 and 15 of block six in Mandan in July of 1881 from the Northern Pacific Railroad for $375. In 1882-83 and at a cost of $23,500 he built a hotel from brick manufactured at a facility just east of Mandan.

Located in the heart of Mandan on the northeast corner of Main Street and Collins Avenue, it became the city's second three-story building (after the InterOcean Hotel located four blocks west on Main Street) and the city's first brick three story building.  Since the description states it was built in 1882, I don't wonder that the couple didn't live at the InterOcean Hotel or another hotel before the building of this one since the Buckleys arrived in the summer of 1880.

Regardless of the exact hotel in which she worked, at 20 dollars a month she was able to save up her wages and bought a a city lot and a small one room shack for fifty dollars which she had moved on to her lot at a cost of five dollars. Adding to their home a small wood-burning stove, the family now had a home of their own. Despite the stories she told about the first winter being so cold that one night the kerosene in the lantern froze, it must have seemed like they were doing well for themselves, they had improved their lives, John was out of the dangers of the mine, and they had room and opportunity to grow their family.

However, in March of 1881 there was a flood and many of the residents of Mandan had to leave their homes and flee to higher land.  John and Margaret were forced to take cover in a wagon on a small hill-top called Court House Hill for several days. Many of the items Margaret had brought with her form home were destroyed, but more tragic was the death of little Mary who, due to exposure, had caught pneumonia and died. Below are pictures of the flooding that occurred in Mandan, and to the left and above is a description of the flood from a newspaper article.

Though the Missouri River usually flooded in June, if the river was blocked by ice, the river would flow over the banks in early spring. Mandan was flooded by water and broken ice in 1881. - source

The flood of 1881, which peaked on March 31, stands out as one of the worst calamities in Mandan's history. The ice gorges backed up the Missouri and Heart Rivers, which submerged the business section and most of the residential sections of the city. -source

The Buckleys, among the other Irish Railroad workers, were Catholic and in September of 1881 St. Joseph's Catholic Church was completed.  This was due in part to John and Margaret and 75 other Catholic families in Mandan joining together and organizing a new parish and building the church. This may have given Margaret a mission and soothed her spirit to practice her faith within a church.

The Church of St. Joseph was organized in 1879 with 75 families, making our parish the first Catholic church in Mandan. The first Mass was celebrated in the Linnehan's house in 1879 and the first resident priest, Fr. Cassidy, arrived in late 1880, offering his first Mass on November 1, 1880. At that time the parish had no boundaries and the priest took care of the faithful for miles around, to parishes as far as Glendive, MT.  The first church structure, a small wood frame church of 70'x80' was completed at a cost of 5,000 in September 1881. Source

1882 saw changes for the Buckley family, Margaret had a little boy named John Buckley on March 29, 1882. This must have been a very bittersweet moment for her so close to the first year anniversary of Mary's death.  Her husband, the same year, was made Mandan City Policeman. He would end up serving on the force for nineteen years.

Due to his work, in 1884, he was able to file on a homestead five miles west of Mandan. While John Sr. worked in the city of Mandan, traveling back and forth on horseback, Margaret and her now two children (Michael having been born in 1883), lived on the homestead to prove it up. Upon proving up on the land, the family moved back into town, but as the children grew older they would live summers on the farm, the boys doing most of the farm work.  Like most farming families, winter was used as a time for learning and the family would live in Mandan in the winter so that the children could have schooling privileges.

John Sr.'s job as a police officer took him out into all sorts of weather and in 1899 he took ill and was discovered to have tuberculosis.  He retired from active work and moved out to the farm, but failed to improve, and on May 10, 1909 passed away after an illness of 10 years, which no doubt Margaret helped him through.

Margaret and John had eleven children, seven who survived into adulthood (John, Michael, Thomas, James, Philip, Rose, and Agnes Maria) and four who passed away in either infancy or as toddlers (Mary, Agnes Ellen, William, and Edward). Upon John's death in 1909 there were two children who were under the age of 18, Rose who was 17 and Agness Maria who was 13. They were certainly a comfort to their mother.   Philip who was 20 continued to live with the family as in 1910 he is listed on the census alongside Margaret as head of house and Rose and Agnes.

Michael Buckley and his wife Margaret

The 1910 census had her occupation listed as farmer so she must have continued to work on the homestead and kept the farm running, most likely with the help of her family.

According to the Buckly Family Book by Phil Buckley, once her youngest child turned 17 she sold the family farm and went to live with her son Michael and his family at 303 4th Ave NW.  Michael's wife had passed away in 1918 due to the influenza epidemic of that year, and Margaret moved into the household to help him with his children of which there were three, ranging from ages nine to two.

Erue, Thomas, and Edward Buckley

Margaret lived with the family until around 1923 when she went to live with her son Philip in Glendive, Montana. Then in 1925 she was living in the home of her son James according to the ND census. It seems that tragedy would continue to cause Margaret to be a strong woman as she moved into the home of yet another son 3 years later. Thomas Henry Buckley's wife, Erue, passed away in the year of 1926 due to complications of  childbirth.  He had seven children who depended upon Margaret to help raise them. Their ages ranged from the oldest being 17 to the youngest only a day old. Grandpa John spoke of her living with them for a while.

Margaret lived with her son's family for five years until he remarried to Gladys Smith in 1931. Grandpa would have been 2 at the time she moved into the home and 7 when she moved after his father's marriage.

Following that marriage Margaret went back to her son's Michael to live out the rest of her years. She died in his home at the age of 79 on January 13, 1936. Mass was said at St. Joseph's Church and she was buried next to her husband John, and four of their children in Mandan's Union Cemetery.

Her obituary ran in the Bismarck Tribune January 18, 1936:

Mandan Woman Buried 

Mrs. Margaret Buckley, 78, pioneer Mandan woman, was buried in the Union Cemetery at Mandan Thursday after furneral services conducted at St. Joseph's Catholic church. Father Marcellus officiated.

The current St. Joseph's church building and former rectory circa 1924
Source

Margaret was definitely a strong woman of our family.  She moved her life from the Pennsylvania cole mines to the unpredictability of life in the new territory of North Dakota. She and her husband were pioneers of the Mandan area and grew along with the city. She raised a family and buried four of her children and her husband. She helped her sons in their times of need.  And perhaps this was out of necessity but it took a strong will to continue on.  None of her family ever moved to the North Dakota area, although she visited Pennsylvania at least once (her son James was born in PA). It seems that she focused on the family she built and she kept that family strong through her own efforts.

Much of this was taken from:

1. History of the Buckley Family by Philip A Buckley (c) 2009
2. Historical Data Project - Pioneer Biography Files, 1936-1940. Bismarck, N.D.: North Dakota Work Projects Administration.
3. Mandan Historical Society
4. Census Records
5. St. Mary's Church of the Immaculate Conception
6. Wilkes Barre General Hospital

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 9 - Where there's a Will

So this prompt could be either an interesting will, someone determined to do something, or a Will in the family.  Well we have lots of Williams on the Golden side!  So lets start with the first one! Did you think it was Grandpa Great? Nope, try 10th Great Grandpa Golden :O Also look at all these William's and Joseph's. Poor Andrew, lol, sticking out like a sore thumb.

Are you tired of scrolling down? Here is some information on William Golden.

The original surname may not have been Golden and may have been Goulder or Golding.

These are all the notes I have gathered on him through various sources:

According to William H. Stillwell's "History of Gravesned" p. 37  William Goulding was born in Ireland about 1613, embarked from London, August 2, 1635, in the George for Virginia and was probably one of George Holmes' party which tried to put a settlement on the Delaware; was captured by the Dutch and brought to New Amstedam.  Campion says a William Golding was a taxpayer in Barbadoes and may ahve been the same person later in Gravesend.  Salter in his History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties says it is supposed that William Golding was one of Lady Deborah Moody's friends who left Massachusetts on a count of Puritan persecution.  Be that as it may, William Goulder or Golding, it seems likely first settled in New Amsterdam sometime prior to his marriage in 1644, as in 1643 he signed a certificate of election.

By deed dated March 20, 1649 (book 1, page 31) William Goulder bought land in Gravesend and presumably moved there about that time from New Amsterdam.  For several years, starting ca. 1666 he was town clerk, signing as "Will Goulding - clarke."  On May 5, 1652 Ann Goulder, wife of William Goulder was defendant in an action of defamation.  She was found guilty and warned.  The warning apparently was not heeded for on Sept 13, 1652 she was again accused.  This time the Court ordred that "Ann shall sitt in ye Irons halfe one hower and after bee taken out and stand in a publicke place with a pap one her breast w her hands bound behinde her..." (ibid. pp. 133,134)

Two deeds, one dated, Jany 12, 1660, and the other Feb 13, 1660 (Book II, pp. 59, 62), for land in Gravesend were signed by Will Goulder alias Goulding.  On March 20, 1665 John Smithe of Gravesend coveyed land known as No. 35 to his father-in-law William Goulder alias Goulding (Ibid. pp 87, 88) and Will Goulding reconveyed his land March 21, 1666/67 (Ibid p. 91) On June 15, 1669, Will Goulding, Clarke, attested to a conveyance which had been witnessed by Joseph Goulding, his marke (ibid, p. 101). This witness was probably the young son about 15 years of age.

William Goulding was one of the twelve men to whom the Monmouth patent was granted in 1665.  In the original division of town lots in Middletown, 1667, he was given Lot 25, and also outlands.  He sold his town lot and meadows to Richard Hartshorne, the deed for which is dated April 23, 1670, and recorded Nov 25, 1672.  In the records of Freehold, NJ, his name is given as Will Golding.  It is not clear when William Goulder died, there being confusion in the records between William, Sr., and William, Jr., but it seems likely that the death occuredn ot too long after 1672.

---
Dutch manuscripts, 1630-64


Maybe about this William Goulder (Golden):

May 3, 1646
Court proceedings. William Goulder vs. Thomas Gridy; defendant to pay 20 guilders, for having suffered three defaults

September 15, 1646
Deed. Govert Lookermans and Direk Cornelissen agents to William Goulder, of a parcel of land at the east river on Manhattans island

February 7, 1647
Huyck Aertsen vs. William Goulder for purchase of a house and plantation, with corn; ordered that plaintiff prove the sale of the house and corn, and that Goulder's wife received the corn; also that he had asked her, when she lost her husband, Smith, whether she held to the bargain, which she took amiss.

April 1, 1653
Deed. William Goulder, attorney of Robert Pennoyer, to Arent van Hattem, bargonmaster; piece of land in Gravesend, L.I. (not executed)

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In regards to deed above ^ on September 15, 1646
New Amsterdam and its people: studies, social and topographical, of the town ... By John H. Innes

 At some time prior to the year 1646 Loockermans associate Cornelis Leendertsen died and Dirck Cornelissen who seems to have been his son had taken his place other partners in the Netherlands are spoken of in some papers executed by Loockermans and Dirck Cornelissen about this time but this may refer merely to others of Cornelis Leendertsen's heirs It was at this period that Govert Loockermans and Dirck Cornelissen after reserving the farmhouse and a parcel of ground of irregular shape lying to the east of it and embracing three acres or more of land disposed of the rest of the farm in the following manner The land lying between the farmhouse and Allerton's warehouse then probably just in course of erection was sold to one William Goulder This parcel which covered nearly two acres of ground ran from the height next the Strand back to Bestevaers Kreupelbosch and its easterly line seems to have about crossed the site of the present Harper building near Franklin Square along its foot on the Strand no longer following the present Pearl Street ran the road to Loockermans farmhouse and to the ferry

....f Loockermans and Cornelissen had any expectations that the neighborhood of their East River farm was to be improved by the grants they made to William Goulder and to George Cleer in 1646 they were doomed to disappointment Neither of these men seems to have made any attempt to build upon the lands purchased by them There are traces of Goulder's occupation of his parcel as late as 1649 after which no further reference to him is met with.
(footnote: He may have been the person called William Goulding, whom we find 1661 in Gravesend, L.I.)

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Treatise upon the estate and rights of the corporation of the city of New York, as proprietors
, Volume 2

April 10, 1647: Phillip De Truyn to Isaac Ollerton.  Transport, out of the withinmentioned land, unto Isaac Ollerton, a certain parcel thereof, stretching north from the strand to the highway, being in breadth 1 rod and 1/17th and in length, along the waid way to the lot of William Goulder, 46 rods, and so back again from the way to the strand.

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The Journal of the Friends' Historical Society, Volumes 9-10 By Friends' Historical Society, Norman Penney


Regarding William Goulder selling his land to Hasthorne (see above)

Richard Hartshorne was a considerable setler who at Middletown in 1669 It was not until the year of GF s that the governor and council of East New Jersey were to purchase all lands from the Indians and to reimburse themselves from the settlers Meanwhile Richard Hartshorne met with some difficulty as he relates in the following account The Indians came to my house and laid their hands on the and frame of the house and said that house was theirs they had any thing for it and told me if I would not buy the land I must be gone But I minded it not thinking it was land and they wanted to get something of me they at last me they would kill my cattle and burn my hay if I would not the land nor be gone then I went to the Patentees they told me it was never bought nor had the Indians any for it Nicolls the first English governor of New Netherlands desired of them and the Indians also only to have leave to a trading house and at that time they did not intend any should have the land but keep it for the use of the country always giving leave for any man to trade with goods and otherwise but I told them I would not live on those terms and only so but it was dangerous for the Indians threatened to my cattle they told me no man had power to buy but patentees and they would buy it thus it continued months I considered the thing as well as I then was capable and went to Gravesend Long Island and bought Goulder one of the patentees out and when I came back Indians were at me and I did buy them out also in Smith New Jersey p 63 n

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Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New-York: new ser ...
By John Romeyn Brodhead, New York (State). Legislature


May be this William Goulder, or son:

Eight mounted and well armed men came yesterday morning to Jamanica to wit Bartholomeus Appelgaet Charles Morgan Natingh Thomas Witlock James Hubbard William Goulder Goetman Ben and NN who on starting had called out to some New Utrecht people happening to be at Gravesend How is it now Will you be the King's or the States men and then they rode off


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Documents of the Senate of the State of New York, Volume 3
By New York (State). Legislature. Senate

Q What book have you in your hand
A It is an abstract that I had prepared of the Sedge Bank division in Coney Island which covers the different grants from the first and second grantees to the people who settled the town of Gravesend
Q Who is the first grantor
A What is called the Dutch East India Company
Q And who is the grantee
A Lady Deborah Moody and her thirty nine associates
 Q When was that
 A The 19th of December 1645
Q That is the first grant
A Yes
 Q Is there a second grant
 A Yes sir by the English governor Francis Lovelace by order of King James
Q What year was that
A The 22d of July 1670
 Q Who was that to
 A Lady Deborah Moody and her thirty nine associates This was a confirmation of the former grant
Q Do the names of the thirty nine associates appear
 A Yes sir It is granted in trust to Lady Deborah Moody and specifies the names of the trustees as follows James Hubbard John Tilton Jr William Goulder Nicholas Stiliwell Josim Guilock Next is a grant by the West India Company which latter company succeeded to the rights of the East India Company This is to give to these people the right to plant colonies in the New Netherlands and is dated Juue 7 1629
Q Does that confirm the grants to this party
A Yes sir This is more a definition of the powers and the privileges given them such as hunting and fishing and states what kinds of clothes they shall wear and what shall be reserved to the West India Company out of the fishing etc This does not go so much to the title of the land as it does to the privileges they are to have I will read one The padroons may if they think proper make use of all the lands rivers and w oods lying contiguous to them for and during so long a time as this company shall not grant them to other padroons or private persons This is privileges to occupy this land bnt not a grant in fee The first grant in fee was made as that paper states to Lady Deborah Moody and her thirty nine associates to Coney Island as a pasture This is a formal grant to anybody who may plant colonies anywhere in the New England States or in New York or anywhere down to the line of Maryland
Q Was that prior to the original grant
A Yes but it was simply rights that they might enjoy if they would come here and live but did not give them any title Then in the second crown where this old Dutch grant was confirmed by the English they give to these thirty nine associates and Lady Deborah Moody Coney Island Instead of saying And all Coney Island for a pasture it says And all Coney Island That gives them the fee title to all of Coney Island The names of the thirty nine are as follows But before giving them I will say there are thirty nine lots here but some of these people owned one and two and sometimes three lots so there are not thirty nine names but there are thirty nine lots Nicholas Stilwell lot No 1 Richard Stilwell lot No 2 Rem Van Cleef lot No 3 Daniel Lake lot No 4 Richard Stilwell lot No 5 Peter Gronendyke lot No 6 John Griggs lot No 7 Nicholas Williamson lot No 8 Samuel Geritsen lot No 9 Richard Stilwell lot No 10 John Griggs lot No 11 Rem Van Cleef lot No 12 Sam l Hubbard lot No 13 Dan l Lake lot No 14 Isaac Denyse lot No 15 John Van Voorhees lot No 16 Richard Stilwell lot No 17 Peter Gronendyke lot No 18 Wilhel minus Ryder lot No 19 Ferdinandus Van Sicklen lot No 20 Wm Johnson lot No 21 Daa l Lake lot No 22 Nicholas Stilwell lot No 23 Cornelins Stryker Albert Terhune and Nicholas Stilwell lot No 24 Bernardus Ryder lot No 25 Benj Steinmetz lot No 26 Jacobus Van Meys lot No 27 Cornelins Emaus lot No 28 John Griggs lot No 29 Richard Stilwell lot No 30 Daniel Lake and F Van Sicklen lot No 31 Bernardus Ryder lot No 32 Albert Terhune lot No 33 Ferdinandus Van Sicklen lot No 34 Cornelins Stryker lot No 35 Nicholas Williamson lot No 36 John Van Voorhees lot No 37 Cornelins Emans lot No 38 Isaac Denyse lot No 39

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 8 - Heirloom

Once again I am behind! But I'll catch up this week! 

I think the word "valuable" is pretty subjective, but this has been in the family for several generations.  I went to visit Aunt Millie a couple weekends ago and she was so kind to give this to me.  I am still just so excited over it and so appreciative.

The generations it belonged to:
Great Great Grandpa Peter Bax born 2/12/1880
Great Grandma Veronica Bax Gerling born 2/9/1903
Great Aunt Millie :)
Now me!

It is a trunk that by what Aunt Millie told me that when GGGpa Peter's mother died, he packed with his clothes to go live with his older sister.  However, I wonder if it wasn't that his father died instead. More about that after these fabulous photos!

As I stated earlier, Peter Bax was born in 1880, he was the seventh child of Joseph Bax and Sophia Constantine DeBruijne, and the 8th child over all (Joseph had been married once before Sophia and had one child).

In 1884 when Peter was only four years old, his father passed away.

"Bax, Joseph - 45 yrs. farmer, 6 Oct 1884 6am, born and married Germany, in Mo. 20 years, died Jim Henry Twp. Coma caused by effusion into the brain, result of extended phlegmonous erysipelas;of the face 10 days, buried St. Elizabeth 7 Oct."

Further research showed a family story passed down through an adjacent Bax family states that he may have been gored by a bull.

It was after this event that perhaps Sophia needed help as she was now a widow left with 7 children ranging from 17 years and younger. Theresa, the eldest daughter of Joseph Bax and Sophia would have been 19, and likely the sister that Peter would have been sent to live with. Unless it was perhaps one of JOSEPH's sister's he went to live with instead.

If Theresa, she was most likely out of the home, since according to her husband, John Lueckenotte's obituary, as well as the 1900 census, they were married in 1884. I am still unable to find their marriage record on ancestry, but their first child, Annie, was born in May of 1885.

Unfortunately the 1890 census was burned up, and so I am unable to say where Peter was living at the age of 14, and by 1900 he was 20 and most likely on his own anyway. He isn't at least, living with his mother ,who remarried.  His mother, Sophia, remarried August 23, 1887 to William Tolken. Perhaps after doing so, Peter came back to live with her, although it may have been only until he came of age.

Peter's younger sister, Sophia, age 18, in 1900 is listed as living as a servant in the household of Joseph and Mary Castrop. I'd have to do a little more digging to see if they are related in some way, or if she was in fact, just living there as help.

Back to the trunk though, Aunt Millie said that it had been sitting at Great Grandma Veronica's, and was gathering dust and dirt dobbers and she asked if she could have it, and that is how it passed from her to Aunt Millie.  And now on to me :)

I think its just wonderful, and have it sitting in my office where I can look at it next to my family pictures that I'm slowly getting up on the wall.