Celebrating St Lucia Day

Shortly after starting my family history research I had an epiphany: my children and I actually shared the DNA of the people I was researching!

We weren't just related to Swedes and Germans, we were English and Swedish and German (and Manx and two other ethnicities, but that discovery came much later.)

This meant we had to do more than have an ethnic heritage; we needed to honor our ethnic heritage.

I asked my daughters (then 10 and 11 years old) to choose the country whose traditions we would include in our upcoming Christmas celebration. Would it be Germany, Sweden or England? They decided on Sweden.

We checked books out from the public library (did I mention this was in the 80s?) and read about Sweden's holiday traditions.

On December 13th the girls and I drove to Chicago where we watched the crowning of a young St Lucia.

We explored the Swedish American museum in Andersonville, bought pastries at Nelson's Bakery, chose a few special straw ornaments at the Swedish Museum Gift Shop, and had dinner at a tiny restaurant called Svea's.

During dinner, Svea's owner played the guitar, serenading his patrons. Several diners added their voices to the Swedish Christmas music he played. The whole day was magical.

As part of our Christmas celebration a couple weeks later, my daughters served their grandmother and aunts Lussekatter buns while dressed in traditional St Lucia Day attire. 

The following year, I asked which country (Germany or England) we should explore during the next holiday. Shocked that I would ask such a question (!), the girls said Sweden would be our focus. Always.

Music at Svea happened only once since that first Swedish Christmas 25 years ago. But the melody will play in my heart forever.

Five Pages of Written Testimony

A thick envelope arrived yesterday from the Cook County (Illinois) Medical Examiner's Office. I carried it from the mailbox to my desk with trembling hands. Gone were thoughts of doing the Genealogy Happy Dance. This is my family. Otto V. Mueller is my great grand-uncle. The documents inside this envelope from Chicago contained five pages of testimony telling how and why he took his own life.

Otto's half-sister Alma and two of Otto's neighbors testified that Otto had behaved differently during the week after his divorce. He was drinking heavily and talking about leaving the city he loved. On the night he died, Otto went home, turned a gas jet on high and blew out the flame. He climbed into bed and lay there waiting for the "illuminating gas" to fill his lungs and end his grief. 

How could he know that 99-1/2 years later a woman he had never met would sit at her desk blinking back tears and grieving for him?

Chicago and Cook County Resources Part 2

As I mentioned previously, our ancestors lives were more than birth, marriage, and death records. In this post I'll focus on school, employment, naturalization, divorce, probate and voting records, as well as current must-visit repositories in Chicago and Cook County.

One of the most exciting aspects of viewing ancestors' school records is the possibility of photographs. A number of volunteers on the Cook County GenWeb project offer yearbook lookups. Ancestry has a number of browse-able yearbooks too. Even grade school class photos offer wonderful clues about the ethnic makeup of a particular neighborhood.


Photo of Pullman workers courtesy
of  the Historic Pullman Foundation

Employment records may not contain individual photos, but they offer interesting insights into the lives of our ancestors. The Pullman Palace Car Company, located on Chicago's south side in the mid to late 1800s, employed hundreds of men. The Pullman Strike was reported in newspapers across the country, and photos exist of many of the strikers. Extant employee records are kept at Newberry Library. The South Suburban Genealogical and Historical Society offers free lookups in its impressive Pullman Collection.

Of course Pullman was not the only company in Chicago, there were many large employers. The Union Stockyards and huge packing plants owned by Swift and Armour made Chicago the meat processing capital for many years. Employee records from these companies may no longer exist, but books like City of the Century by Donald L. Miller realistically portray our ancestors' working lives.

Chicago and Cook County courts were each responsible for naturalizations at different points in time. Options include the superior, circuit, criminal, and county courts among others. Keep in mind records created before the Chicago Fire in 1871 may no longer exist. The Family History Library has a good collection of microfilms related to Cook County (including Chicago) naturalizations. More information on naturalizations can be found on the Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court web site. The Clerk also has divorce records from 1871 to 1986, law and chancery files 1871-1963, probate files from 1871 to 1975, and more.

Were your ancestors interested in politics? Look for them in the "Record and index of persons registered and of poll lists of voters, northern district of Illinois, city of Chicago, 1888, 1888-1890, 1892; town of Lake View, 1888; town of Hyde Park, 1888; town of Lake, 1888" available at the Family History Library and on Ancestry. These records may not take the place of the lost 1890 census, but they can provide helpful information about places of residence.

Planning a visit to the Windy City? Be sure to visit:

The Newberry Library is a prestigious looking building at 60 W Walton Street in Chicago (312.943.9090). With 1.5 million volumes and 75,000 maps, this five-story non-circulating research library set up in 1887 requires a day just to get your bearings.

The Illinois Regional Archives Depository for Chicago and Cook County is in the Ronald Williams Library at Northeastern Illinois University, 5500 N St Louis Avenue in Chicago (773.442.4506) This location is one of seven IRAD locations in the state. IRAD at NEIU holds local government records such as birth, death, marriage records; naturalization records; coroner's inquest reports; and Chicago police homicide records.

The Wilmette Family History Center at 2727 Lake Avenue in Wilmette has one of the largest (if not THE largest) collections of extended loan microfilms of interest to the Chicago and Cook County researcher.

The Harold Washington Library Center and the Chicago Public Library at 400 S State Street in Chicago
(312.747.4875) is huge; roughly , 756,000 square feet and 10 levels. Among its more than 13 million pieces are innumerable rare manuscripts, books, art and sound archives. The Archival collections document the lives and activities of people and organizations in Chicago. Click here to appreciate the staggering size of the Library's Special Collections inventory.

In a city the size of Chicago, there are dozens of additional must-see sites. The four places listed above are great places to start and could provide enough resources to keep you busy for all of the (soon to be here) winter months. Need to connect with other Chicago researchers? Consider the Chicago Genealogy Society, the South Suburban Genealogical and Historical Society, or even the Illinois State Genealogical Society.

Remember millions of our ancestors once called Chicago home. Those ancestors are being researched by many millions more of us. If you can't readily find a resource that will guide you to the answer you seek, all you have to do is ask!

Chicago and Cook County Resources Part 1

Chicago plays a big role in my family history research. Both of my parents, all four grandparents, and four of my great-grandparents were born in Chicago. 

Navy Pier and the Chicago skyline

Photo by Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau 


The Windy City also drew my non-native ancestors. Two of my great-grandparents immigrated directly to Chicago and six of my immigrant great-great grandparents moved there after settling somewhere else first.

Chicago was officially incorporated as a town in 1832 and four years later, when the population reached 4170, it was incorporated as a city.

By the 1870 census more than 300,000 people called Chicago home. The population boom is attributed primarily to the arrival of railroads and the meatpacking industry.

The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 left much of the city in ashes and many genealogically-related records were lost forever. There are still many records available however and workarounds exist for the records that were burned.

Most Illinois counties did not begin recording births until 1877. Cook County held records earlier than many other counties, but most of those were lost in the Fire. Images of Cook County Birth Registers from 1871 (post-Fire) to 1915 are online at Family Search. Newspapers reported a few births as early as 1833. A list was compiled by the Newspaper Research Committee and microfilmed by the Family History Library (FHL) on film # 844952.

More than a million images make up the FamilySearch collection of Cook County Birth Certificates 1878-1922. I have found ancestors that have a birth certificate and are listed in the registers, so you may want to check both. If you aren't able to locate a birth record, check this microfiche index for surname misspellings and unnamed infants.

Corrected birth certificates (names added or changed, misspellings on the originals etc) appear on 17 rolls of microfilm available at the FHL. If your ancestor's birth wasn't recorded, he or she may have obtained a Delayed Birth Certificate when job hunting, enlisting in the military, or applying for Social Security. The Chicago Fire or World War I may have been catalysts for the records on this film.

Baptismal records often list birth dates. Catholic ancestors may appear in FamilySearch's newly released Catholic Church Records 1833-1925 which is a goldmine if you know the name of the Chicago church your family attended. If your ancestors were Lutheran (ELCA), start here to look for archived records. Start here when searching for Missouri Synod Lutherans.

Hidden in a long list of Catholic churches, there are record indexes for other denominations on these FHL microfilms.

The Illinois State Archives and the Illinois State Genealogical Society (ISGS) are  indexing marriage records from 1763 to 1920. This database contains over two million names and is searchable by bride's or groom's names. FamilySearch has a Cook County Marriages Index and images from 1871 to 1920.

Generally speaking, the government thinks of marriage as a contractual agreement between the parties involved, so records were/are pretty consistently created. If you are unable to locate a Chicago or Cook County marriage record, look for church records on the sites listed above. Remember that indexers struggle with poor handwriting, faded copies, misspelled names and other hurdles. Think creatively when searching any archived record.

Death records often yield the most information about our ancestors' lives. The Illinois Statewide Death Index is far from complete, but most 1871-1950 Cook County death records have been indexed. They are online in two databases; pre-1916 and 1916-1950. Images of death certificates from 1878 to 1922 and Deaths and Stillbirths 1916-1947 are available free on FamilySearch.

Other sources for information regarding the death of Cook County ancestors are funeral home records, burial permit listings, the Sam Fink index, probate records, and obituaries:

The Chicago Daily News and the Chicago Tribune were two of the major papers in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs for decades. Both are go-to sources for obituaries, beginning in the mid-to-late 19th century. Extant issues and microfilm copies of the now defunct Daily News exist in surprising places. Wilson Library at the University of Minnesota has an impressive collection on microfilm. The Trib is online at several newspaper database sites and Ancestry.com as well as on microfilm. Ethnic and suburban newspapers (like the Daily Herald) are also good sources for obituaries.

Our ancestors lives were more than birth, marriage, and death records. In an upcoming post I'll focus on school, employment, naturalization, divorce, probate and voting records, as well as current must-visit repositories.

I'll also share information about some interesting events that occurred in Chicago and Cook County that impact genealogical research there. For example, streets were renamed, houses and business were renumbered, cemeteries were closed and former "residents" relocated, and more than one riot took place.

Do you have a favorite source for genealogical records in "that tottlin' town"? Share your suggestions in the comments section below or email me at livinginthepastlane [at] yahoo [dot] com

Genealogy Success Team Update

I've made more progress on my family tree since Jenny and I started our Success Team than I'd made in the six preceding months combined. It has to do with accountability. I don't want to waste Jenny's time by telling her I couldn't finish the goals I set during our last meeting, so I get them done. Thanks Jenny, and go team!

Working toward accomplishing my 2011 New Year's Resolutions, I have a five-pronged approach to each week. This week my list consists of:

BLOG: Follow Lisa Alzo's 15-minutes a day plan. I missed Lisa's program at FGS 2011, but read about it on Diana's blog post. Like Diana, I'm pretty busy. But as Diana mentioned, I'm sure we can all squeeze in 15 minutes a day to do something more important than reading Facebook status updates.

LEARN: In a never-ending quest to add to my overall genealogical education, this week I'm going to finish reading one of the books I bought at FGS 2011; "Finding Your Chicago Ancestors; A Beginner's Guide to Family History in the City and Cook County" by Grace DuMelle. I'm not a beginner to research in this area, but the book has more than beginner information. I've already found several new resources.

ORGANIZE: What genealogist doesn't need to be better organized? I recently created an "at-a-glance record inventory" in Excel. This week I will add comments to the Mueller page.

You probably know about the yearbook collection on Ancestry. I'm interested in Englewood High School. The oldest yearbook on Ancestry for that school is 1940, far later than I need. A Google search shows records for EHS at the Harold Washington Library in Chicago. Time to start a list for a road trip.

PRESERVE: I'm a huge fan of Find A Grave. This week I want to make 15 new contributions. I also need to upload another CD of family photos for my scrapbook project.

RESEARCH: Ah yes, the real reason I play the genealogy game! This week I hope to locate the church my Mueller/Schmitt family attended in Chicago and request records from them. I'd like to answer several questions:

• In which Swiss village was Jacob Mueller born?
• When did he immigrate to the United States?
• Did Elise have four children with Jacob or only two?
• Is there a record of (Elise's son) Otto's divorce? Of his suicide?
• Where did (Jacob/Elise's daughter) Alma live after Jacob died?
• What happened to Alma after (her stepbrother) Otto' death?

My French translation comfort level is decreasing. I've been away from the records for too long. So my last task for this week is to transcribe and translate at least one French vital record for an ancestor in Moselle.

This should be a fun (and productive!) week for genealogy. What's in your wallet on your genealogy to-do list?

A Child Lost ~ Freddie Lavine

From the July 1, 1883 issue of the Chicago Tribune, page 10, "LAVINE- Freddie Lavine, beloved son of Nellie Lavine, June 30, aged 1 month and 29 days. Funeral Sunday at 2 o'clock from 1088 West Madison-st. to Waldheim Cemetery."

I started at FamilySearch and clicked on USA, Canada, and Mexico under Browse by Collection. The 1,431,659 records in the Illinois, Cook County Deaths 1878-1922 database looks promising. I clicked on that and chose Advanced Search. I entered Lavine in the last name field; and death, Chicago, and 1883 on the next line. Freddie's was the first record in the search results:

Although his death certificate doesn't include Freddie's parents' names, the place of death (1088 W Madison Street) matches the address in his obituary.

Since the obituary mentions only Freddie's mother, I went to Ancestry in search of a census record. The results were interesting:

Nellie's husband is John W Lavine, a 45 year old cigar manufactor. John Jr can't be Nellie's son, she's only nine years older than him. I wondered how long John and Nellie had been married. Back to FamilySearch. This time I started with the Illinois, Cook County Marriages, 1871-1920 database.

The subjects of the first three records were members of this family. Here's what I learned; Nellie McLaughlin and John W Lavine were married by a Catholic priest in November of 1878:

John Jr. married a few years after the 1880 census was taken and Nellie remarried after her husband died:

Of course I don't really know that Nellie's first husband died. Perhaps they were divorced. Let's check death records to be sure. Back to that first database (Illinois, Cook County Deaths 1878-1922) at FamilySearch. I put John W Lavine into the the first fields and Chicago on the second line. Once again, the record I need is the first one. But when I clicked on it and then on View Image, I saw this:

I've had this experience on FamilySearch before. It's a little frustrating, but fortunately there is a work-around.  See the image number? It says image 1517 of 1773. I changed the image number to 1518 and learned the cause of John W Lavine's death.

.

John's occupation is cigar manufactor, the same occupation that appears on the 1880 census. I didn't have much luck finding him in the 1900 census. If this was my family, I'd look in the newspaper to see if there is any mention of the shooting. The death certificate doesn't mention a coroner's report, and I don't see one listed for the right date, but I'd also look into that.

I located John Jr's mother in the 1870 census. I wonder if the English-born woman on this page is John Sr's sister?

As for Freddie's mother Nellie, there are too many possibilities to determine which is the "real" Nellie. Even the 1910 census made me wonder. Lavine and Campbell together and Walter's birthplace seems like a good match:

My belief that Walter is Freddie's older brother increased when I found his birth record:

Where do we go from here? There are many steps I'd take if this was my family; limited time prevents me from investigating further. I added Freddie and John Sr to Find A Grave. I hope that one of my readers will know where Nellie is buried and share the information. I'd like to reunite Nellie and Freddie, wouldn't you?

Note: I have no connection to this child. As I said in A Child Lost ~ Introduction, my goal is to reunite children with their parents.  If you are a LaVine descendant, I hope you'll give Freddie a special place in your family tree.

My own family tree work-in-progress is online at Living in the Past Lane.

A Child Lost ~ Lillie Geng

From the June 30, 1896 issue of the Chicago Daily News, "GENG-LILLIE, at the residence of her parents, 712 Burling-st., beloved daughter of Charles and Annie Geng (nee Kerwer), Monday, June 29, at 6 p.m., at the age of 4 years 11 months and 14 days. Funeral Wednesday at 2 p.m."

I started by looking for Lillie's death certificate at FamilySearch:

Using the Tombstone Birthday Calculator, I estimate Lillie's birthdate as 15 Jul 1891. I didn't have any luck finding a record of her birth on FamilySearch, but her parents' marriage certificate was there.

The family remained at the address that is on Lillie's death cerificate. Here they are in the 1900 census:

After seeing Annie lost two of her children before 1900, I almost hoped this possibility for her husband's death wasn't him. I wasn't certain until I looked at the Address Conversion Tools at Chicago Ancestors. There I located the family's 1900 address (712 Burling Street) had been renumbered in 1909 to 2679 Burling Street; the same address listed on Charles' death certificate:

At least now I know Charles was buried at the same cemetery as his daughter. Annie/Anna lived a long life. I hope it was happier than these documents suggest. Lillie and her parents are buried at St Boniface and at my request, another contributor linked them on Find A Grave.

Note: I have no connection to this child. In A Child Lost ~ Introduction, I shared my hope of reuniting these children with their parents. If you are a Geng descendant, I hope you'll give Lillie a special place in your family tree.

Headstone Photos from Oakwoods

Ancestors on both sides of my family are buried at Oakwoods Cemetery on Chicago's south side. It's one of the oldest cemeteries in the city, established in 1854 before Graceland, Rosehill and Calvary.

The architecture and landscaping alone make this cemetery a historic treasure. There are some truly breathtaking monuments in Oakwoods, among them the Confederate Mound. A number of Chicago's elite are buried here along with politicians and ministers, athletes and gangsters.



The Confederate Mound

I have wanted to visit my ancestors' graves at this cemetery for as long as I can remember. It's hundreds of miles from me however and I may never have the chance. So I asked for help at Find A Grave and at RAOGK. No luck.

Then one day it occurred to me there might be a local teenager or senior citizen who could take pictures of the headstones I wanted so much to see. So I wrote a letter and sent it to Oakwoods...

"May 23, 2011

Dear Ms. Nowak,

This morning I had an idea I hope you can help develop.

I am a genealogist and several of my family members are buried at Oakwoods. Since I am unable to visit the cemetery in person, I would like to get photos of their headstones. 

Are you familiar with www.findagrave.com? As of this morning, there were 8286 interments listed on the web site for Oakwoods. Specific to my idea, there are 326 photo requests.

I’m wondering if there is a local teenager or perhaps a retiree who might be willing to take headstone photos at Oakwoods. A volunteer would be the most popular choice, but I don’t think it would be unreasonable to ask for financial contributions for the photographer’s time and trouble. I would be willing to pay someone out of state to take pictures and clean up a gravesite for ancestors I can’t visit in person.

This is important enough to me that I would be willing to help in whatever way I can. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Warmest regards,"

After a few weeks and no response, I called. Talked with a lovely woman there who said the General Manager position had recently undergone a transition. She suggested I call the former GM. I did. Another lovely woman who offered some wonderful suggestions. Unfortunately none of them worked. So I called the cemetery again. This time I talked with a gentleman who offered to take the pictures himself. I followed up with a letter, a list, some charts, and $50.

"July 6, 2011

Dear Mr. Davis,

Thank you for talking with me yesterday about my desire for photos of my ancestors’ headstones.

Your willingness to help me obtain these photos is very much appreciated. Toward that end I have included a list of names and dates specific to Oakwoods.

I was a little taken aback by the $10 per headstone charge, but relieved when you asked that the check be made out to the American Diabetes Association. Both Jacob and Elizabeth (Schmitt) Mueller died of diabetes, and their son Alfred died of diabetic complications. Unfortunately, my budget won’t allow me to pursue all ten photos this week. I would be most grateful for the five I numbered on my list and for those I have enclosed a check in the amount of $50.

If possible, I would prefer to receive the headstone pictures via email as jpg files. My email address (on my calling card enclosed) is livinginthepastlane@yahoo.com.

You mentioned privacy concerns related to the plat cards for these individuals. I have also enclosed relationship charts so you can see I am a direct descendant of Jacob and Elizabeth. Their son Alfred (my great-grandfather) and Otto were brothers. I have received copies of many plat cards or plot maps from other cemeteries during my 30 year genealogical quest. I have never posted them online or shared the contents with anyone. The information they contain is about my family and I protect it accordingly.

In my first letter dated May 23 (copy enclosed), I mentioned the web site www.findagrave.com. If Ms. Comer hasn’t yet seen this web site, would you please make her aware of it? The number of photo requests fluctuates (currently at 271), but the oldest request is from 2006. I’m sure there are many others who would appreciate the prospect of obtaining photos of their loved ones’ graves as well. If this is a service the cemetery might consider offering in the future, I would be happy to share that news.

Thank you again for all your help. It’s unlikely I will be able to see these graves in person, so your help, and that of Oakwoods in general, means a great deal to me.

Warmest regards,"

Within days, Mr Davis sent the following email with two pictures attached:

"Hi Ms. Aanenson
Thank you for your contribution to the ADA, here are the findings for the 5 inquiries you made to Oak Woods cemetery. Next of kin is in parenthesis.

1. Jacob J. Mueller, Age 66  (son Otto) buried in section F5  lot 227  (see photo) his wife Elise is buried to his left also listed with headstone. (see photo).
2.  Otto V. Mueller, Age 44 (sister Alma) is buried in F5 -227 next to Jacob's right side, there is no headstone for him.
3.  Alfred Jacob Mueller, Age 62 (son Harold) is buried next to Otto, there is no headstone for him also.
4. Elizabeth Mueller, Age 76 (William) is buried in section R1 lot 571  Dec. 25, 1901.  (see photo).
5. Frida Youngberg, Age 74 (daughter Myrtle) is buried in section F7 lot 593 Oct. 12, 1937. There is no headstone for her.

Respectfully,

JAMES DAVIS
Planning Advisor
Oak Woods Cemetery
1035 E. 67th Street
Chicago, IL 60637"

Charles J Youngberg and his wife Freda (nee Tolf)

Jacob K Mueller and his wife Elisabeth (nee Schmitt)

A Child Lost ~ Lillian Harriet Rapp

From the June 30, 1896 issue of the Chicago Daily News, "RAPP-LILLIAN HARRIET, beloved daughter of Peter and Belle Rapp, June 29, 1896, aged 6 months. Funeral to Oakwoods July 1, 1896, 2 p.m., from parents' residence, 344 24th-st."

Here's a copy of Lilly's death certificate from FamilySearch:

She was Peter and Belle's 8th child according to the December 1895 Chicago Illinois Birth Register below. The baby's name was recorded as Ellen, but her date of birth, parents' names, the street address, and the couple's ethnic heritage are good indicators that this is the right child:

Lilly's poor mother. She had a baby nearly every year after her wedding,

but lost two-thirds of her children before 1900:

According to the Family History Library film # 1894003, Belle (Peterson) Rapp died 03 Jan 1934 and was buried in Oakwoods January sixth. Film # 1953316 shows Peter Axel Rapp died 12 Mar 1938 and was buried in Oakwoods March fourteenth. Peter, Belle, and Lilly are together now on Find A Grave.



Wordless Wednesday ~ Englewood Illinois

Surname Saturday - July Marriages

Two family weddings in two weeks; 'tis the season! And that made me wonder how many of my ancestors were married in July. Of course there are my parents, my sister, and at least one of my cousins; but those who came before the living family members include:

My second great grand aunt Zora Clarke who married John Highbarger 16 July 1879. Zora and John lived in Washington County Maryland most of their lives. They had four children.

My great grand aunt Maria Josephina Carlson married Andrew Johnson in Chicago 12 Jul 1888. Both were Swedish immigrants. Maria had been born in Börstil in Uppsala. A family story about Mary and her husband owning a boarding house led to the discovery of this marriage. Maria married the husband everyone knew 10 years after Andrew's death. She's the widowed boarding house manager near the bottom of the page below:

My first cousin thrice removed Carl E Plum married Waity Chandler 17 Jul 1901 in Chicago. Sadly Waity died in childbirth nine months later.

My great grand uncle Otto V Mueller (Bidenharn) married Alvina S Schmitt 23 Jul 1902 in St Joseph, Michigan, a popular wedding site for many Chicagoans. The couple's daughter Edith M was born June 1903. Otto was a successful civil engineer who tragically took his own life in April 1912.

Another Chicagoan and first cousin thrice removed Myrtle Alvira Youngberg married Canadian John L Miller in scenic St Joseph, Michigan 01 Jul 1910. She was 18 years old. The marriage lasted less than three years.

Yet another first cousin thrice removed Pearl May Tolf married Algernon Chastaine Porter in Chicago 19 Jul 1913. I did not know until just this moment that Algernon and Pearl lived in Virginia with their two daughters during the 1920 census. Prior to her marriage Pearl lived with her cousins Raymond and Ranghild in a Swedish Chicago neighborhood.

My great grand uncle George James Walton married Dorothea May Reifsnyder in Cleveland Ohio. The couple had one son, [Cecil] James, with whom I shared a passion for genealogy. James lost his battle with cancer just last year.

The last of my first cousins thrice removed who married in July was Ella Jubelina Tolf. She married Arthur William Nelson in Batavia Illinois 30 Jul 1914. Everyone who described Ella to me spoke very highly of her. She and Arthur had two children. Son Frank became a dentist and practiced in Batavia his entire career.

Carlson, Tolf, Walton, and Youngberg are surnames on my mom's side of the family. Clarke, Mueller, and Plum are on the paternal side of my family tree; the side I am currently researching. Some of the ancestors listed above are collateral. Their stories often add to those of my direct line ancestors. 

Do we share any ancestors? Drop me a line at livinginthepastlane [at] yahoo [dot] com. I'd love to compare notes!

A Child Lost ~ Mabel Champion

From the May 15, 1882 edition of the Chicago Daily News, "CHAMPION-At 550 W. Erie-st., MABEL CHAMPION, aged 1 month and 14 days. Notice of funeral hereafter."

I started at FamilySearch and entered Mabel Champion, checked "all events" and entered the years 1882 to 1892. Three records appeared. Mabel's death certificate was first.

I broadened my search by looking for any Champion in Chicago. I filtered the results by date and gender. Mabel's birth certificate was on page two:

Mabel's parents are John and Mary. She was their first child. Mary's maiden name is listed on this birth register:

The Champions are near the bottom of the page. Mary's surname looks like Fodey. I returned to FamilySearch and found the couple's marriage certificate:

At first I wasn't sure if this Champion family was Mabel's. This census says Mary's parent's were born in Ireland...

and the 1880 census says they were born in Illinois:

But other clues on the 1900 census were helpful, especially the month and year young John Champion was born:

Hmm. Am I the only one bothered by John being identified as the first child born to this couple? Regardless, Mabel's page on Find A Grave is now up to date.

Note: I have no connection to this child. In A Child Lost ~ Introduction, I shared my hope of reuniting these children with their parents. If you are a Champion descendant, I hope you'll give Mabel a special place in your family tree.

My own genealogy work-in-progress is online at Living in the Past Lane.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Mystery Record

A Child Lost ~ Annie Bacon

From the July 7, 1890 issue of the Chicago Daily News, "BACON-ANNIE, infant daughter of John and Margaret Bacon, aged 5 months and 25 days. Funeral from 2124 LaSalle-st., Thursday at 10 a.m., to Calvary by carriages."

First I did an Advanced Search for Annie's death certificate on FamilySearch. Her name, date and place of death, and name of the cemetery confirm this is "our" Annie:

I added her to Find A Grave and ran a quick check for her parents' marriage certificate:

Then I looked for the couple on Find A Grave. Margaret's entry includes a transcription of her obituary. She has a daughter named Catherine. No Illinois birth record match for Catherine on FamilySearch.

In the 1892 Chicago City Directory, John A Bacon, policeman resides on Portland Ave. And here's a possibility for the family in the 1900 census:



Did you notice Margaret had five children, but lost two? Here's the other child:

Catherine, Mary and Elizabeth still live with their parents in 1910:

In the census above, Elizabeth is called Bessie. Her middle initial is G, just like in the marriage certificate below. So we know Elizabeth is the daughter mentioned in Margaret's obituary.



But how do we know this family is Annie's family? If these were my ancestors, I would search for more documents with the address mentioned in Annie's obituary. I'd also like to see a reference to her in either parent's obituary.  

Since this is a rudimentary search, I hypothesize that Annie's family moved often. While there are multiple addresses, the same group of family names appear together frequently enough to believe John and Margaret are Annie's parents. I added John's death to Find A Grave and linked Annie with her parents. If you know more about this family, I hope you'll add a comment below.

Note: I have no connection to this child. In A Child Lost ~ Introduction, I shared my hope of reuniting these children with their parents. If you are a Bacon descendant, I hope you'll give Annie a special place in your family tree.

My own genealogy work-in-progress is online at Living in the Past Lane.