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.

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.