January Anniversaries

January is a bit of a "small world" in my family tree.

For example, my paternal 4th great-grandparents François SCHMITT and Elizabeth GROSSE were married 16 Jan 1804 in Hellimer, Moselle, Lorraine, France - François' sister was married the same day:

On the other side of the ocean, three weeks after acting as witnesses at Peter's brother's wedding, my maternal 2nd great-grandparents Peter August TOLF and Augusta Sophia LANDSTROM were married 21 Jan 1882 in Chicago, Cook, Illinois:

My other set of 2nd great-grandparents Peter THOMPSON and Maria Fredrika PETERSON were married 20 Jan 1883 in Chicago, Cook, Illinois:

The longer I work on my family tree, the greater number of interesting connections I find among the members. From what I read in the 1880 and 1885 city directories, it appears that both the Tolf/Landstrom and Thompson/Peterson couples were married at the same church. It's possible that the four immigrants met there and built a friendship.

Years later Harry (Peter and Augusta's son) would marry Julia (Peter and Maria Fredrika's daughter). Unfortunately it wasn't happily-ever-after marriage, but their story may have begun earlier than I previously thought.

I wonder what other surprises my ancestors have in store for me this year?

Are any of my ancestors in your family tree too?

Please contact me at find.an.ancestor [at] gmail [dot] com

Let's compare notes!

Surname Saturday ~ August Birthdays

Happy August birthday to my wonderful husband, my little sister, my beautiful granddaughter, my uncle Bob, my cousin Bill, my cousin in-law Michael, my grand uncle Bud, my first cousin once-removed Faith, my first cousin twice-removed Courtney, my third cousin once-removed in-law Cindy, and my fourth cousins once-removed Spencer and Taylor.

My August-born ancestors are also in my thoughts:

Helen Irene ADAMS born 04 Aug 1919 married William Howard TOLF in Chicago Illinois. Their daughter is one of my favorite genealogists.

Lyman John CLARKE was born 01 Aug 1893 in Chicago Illinois and his aunt Zora E CLARKE was born in Washington County Maryland 19 Aug 1857. Their unique names help in the search for Clark/e ancestors and descendants.

My 4th great-grandmother Elizabeth GROSSE was born in Virming, Moselle, Lorraine, France 07 Aug 1781. She married François SCHMITT in 1804.

Although not yet documented other than the photo below, Christina GURY born 15 Aug 1821 in Altroff, Moselle, Lorraine, France became a nun. Her brother Jean Louis GURY was born 26 Aug 1819 also in Altroff.

Axel Fabian LANDSTROM was born in Norra Unnaryd, Jonkopings, Sweden 10 Aug 1874, the youngest of seven children who immigrated to Chicago Illinois with their parents Johan Peter LANDSTROM and Lisa Katarina PETERSDOTTER. Axel's older brother Carl Werner LANDSTROM was born 17 Aug 1863.

John Alfred LUND was born 13 Aug 1879 in Sweden. His wife Hannah Christina TOLF and her sister Ella Jubelina TOLF 21 Aug 1886 were born in the Swedish community of Batavia Illinois.

My grandfather Harold Clarke MUELLER was born 07 Aug 1908 in Chicago Illinois. He married Frances Lois MANGELS 22 Aug 1930.

Following the Swedish naming tradition, Jöns PERSSON born 23 Aug 1829 in Bjäresjö, Malmöhus, Sweden had a daughter named Bengta JÖNSDÖTTER. In America she would be known as Betty Johnson. Jöns' daughter created this priceless family treasure:

After my 3rd great-grandmother Margaret Jane SHARTZER died in 1867, Julia PETERS born 25 Aug 1827 married the widowed Charles W LITTRELL. She helped raise his children John Henry LITTRELL and Mary Ella LITTRELL.

Oscar F THOMPSON born in Chicago Illinois 12 Aug 1883 was the first American born child of Norwegian immigrant Peter THOMPSON and his Swedish immigrant wife Maria Fredrika PETERSDOTTER.

My 4th great-grandfather blacksmith Carl Jonas TOLF was born in Svenarum, Jönköping, Sweden 25 Aug 1795. He died at 38 leaving wife Maja Lisa LIDSTROM with seven small children, among them my 3rd great-grandfather Carl TOLF. Carl immigrated to Batavia Illinois in 1878. His August-born grandsons include Frank M TOLF 29 Aug 1884 and Leroy Harrison TOLF 10 Aug 1888. Owen Henry TOLF, a great-grandson, was born 03 Aug 1914.

On 21 Aug 1891 Swedish immigrants Carl Johan YOUNGBERG and Frida Katrina TOLF had their second child Myrtle Alvira YOUNGBERG. Myrtle's brother Lawrence Charles YOUNGBERG is one of the family mysteries I enjoy solving.

Transcription Thursday ~ Elizabeth Grosse

Elizabeth Grosse was born 07 Aug 1781 in Virming, Moselle, Lorraine, France. She married François Schmitt when she was twenty-three. The couple had at least six children (I haven't found them all yet) before Elizabeth died in 1826:

Hopefully my transcription and translation below are fairly accurate:

Death Record of Elizabeth Grosse

Transcription No. 44 Décès d’ Elizabeth Grosse ages’ du 45 ans

L' an mil huit cent vingt six le trente un mai, a midy par devant nous Joseph Pinet, Maire et officier de l' état civil de la commune d' Hellimer et Diffenbach, canton de Grostenquin, département de la Moselle, sont comparu François Schmitt, tanneur âgé de xxx cinquante quatre ans et M. Hubert Bienfait avocat âgé de quatre vingt un ans tous deux domiciliés a Hellimer lesquels nous ont déclaré que, hier à Sept heure après midi Elizabeth Grosse, agé d’ quarante cinq ans, femme du premier declarant, fille de defunt Christophe Grosse, et d’ Elizabeth Houpert san vocation domicile à Virming et décédés enfant avril nous a Hellimer et ont les déclarants signé avec nous le présent acte de décès, après lecture faite.

[signed] Bienfait         Franz Schmitt         Pinet

Translation No. 44 Death of Elizabeth Grosse age 45 years

The year eighteen hundred and twenty six, the thirty-first of May at noon in front of us Joseph Pinet, Mayor and Officer of the vital statistics of the town of Hellimer and Diffenbach, Grostenquin Township, department of Moselle, appeared François Schmitt, tanner age of fifty four years and Mr. Hubert Bienfait lawyer the age of 81 years, both residents of Hellimer which we have stated that yesterday at 7pm, Elizabeth Grosse, age of 45 years, wife of the first registrant, and daughter of the late Christophe Grosse et d’ Elizabeth Houpert , without occupation residing in Virming, and the infant who died in April in Hellimer, and registrants have signed with us the present death act, after reading done.

[signed] Bienfait         François Schmitt         Pinet

Seeking Schmitts

A weekly trip to the local Family History Center has become part of my routine. Old-fashioned as the microfilm may be, it is nice to play in the sandbox with other researchers during my visits.

The French records with which I'm working are wonderfully organized. Each volume starts with a cover page that shows the when (in this case 1840) and the where (Hellimer, Moselle, France) of the records to follow. After locating the year I want, I scroll ahead to the index.

Every year the Maire (mayor) alphabetically listed all the births, marriages, and deaths for the year ended. Then the books were copied by hand and the copies were forwarded to a governmental agency at the county level.

The indices tell me whether or not I need to look more closely at the individual records. The 1840 index for the town of Hellimer looks like this:

The title on the right page of the left image is Naissance or births. Births continue on the left page of the right image, followed by Marriages. The index on the far right are Décès or deaths.

I'm looking for members of my Schmitt family, specifically my 2nd and 3rd great grandparents' siblings. There is only one Schmitt on the list of births; #39 Pierre Victor, who appears near the top left of the image on the right.

There's also a Schmitt marriage (2nd from the last) and two deaths; Pierre Victor (which explains the X next to his name on the birth index) and Caroline. I write down the numbers near the names and the dates of the events, then scroll back to check the records, starting with Pierre Victor:

His birth and death entries are on the left page. I search for names in each record and see my 3rd great grandparents, Nicolas Schmitt and Marie Anne Gury. That makes Pierre Victor my second great-grandmother's brother. Next I check Caroline's death record. Her father's name is Jean Michael. Not a Schmitt I know at this time. The last Schmitt record in 1840 is the marriage record:

Marriage records tend to be fairly long and include names, ages and occupations of the bride and groom and their parents. What genealogical treasures they are! This bride's parents are François Schmitt and Elisabeth Grosse, my 4th great-grandparents.

This trip to the FHC was very productive! Transcribing and translating these newest additions to my collection ought to keep me busy until my visit.

Surname Saturday ~ Grosse, Gury, Schmitt

Fashionable women ~ 1850

I'm enamored with my paternal French line; learning to speak French while driving, reading French history books, translating birth records during my lunch hour, ordering films from the Family History Library every Tuesday evening. Some might say I've become addicted, but that's not true. I've been addicted all along.

New clues show themselves frequently, but most often they come accompanied by more questions. 

The knowns:

• My 3rd great-grandfather, Nicolas Schmitt, was born in 1813 in Hellimer, Moselle, Lorraine, France.
• His parents were Francois Schmitt and Elisabeth Grosse.
• His wife was Marie-Anne Gury, born in 1818 in Francaltroff, Hellimer, Lorraine, France.
• Nicolas had at least two siblings, younger sisters Elisabeth and Barbe.
• He traveled to America with his eldest son Jules in April 1854.
• Nicolas and his family settled in Cincinnati Ohio.
• Several children, including my 2nd great-grandmother emmigrated to Chicago where they raised their children.

The unknowns:

• When did the remaining family members arrive in America?
• What happened to Francois, the last child born in France?
• What happened to Joseph, the first child born in Ohio?
• Did Jules really die in Ohio, or did he relocate to Chicago leaving his wife and children behind?
• Was Nicolas the first, one of several, or the only Schmitt that left France?
• Where is the elusive marriage record of Nicolas and Marie-Anne?
• and so many more unknowns; far too many to list.

The next steps:

• Order microfilm for 1792-1810 birth, marriage, death records for Hellimer.
• Continue checking the mailbox for the will that will tell if the French-born Ohio-residing Emile Schmitt who married Mary Kauffman is "my" Emile.
• Translate Barbe's birth record; it includes her parents' ages.
• Search passenger lists for my 2nd great-grandmother and her siblings.
• Determine whether the brother mentioned as co-owner of John Schmitt's restaurant in Chicago is Jules.

And so, as we French say, la recherche se poursuit!