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!

January Birthdays

Happy January birthday to my late grandmother Frances Lois MANGELS born 23 Jan 1911; my sister, my cousin Alexander, and my nephew Eric.

My grandmother's aunt Amanda Ida MANGELS was born 24 Jan 1893 in Chicago, Cook, Illinois. Amanda testified on my grandmother's behalf when she applied for a delayed birth certificate in May of 1929.

After his divorce from her mother, my grandmother's father Gustave MANGELS married Emilie HEINZELMANN who was born 09 Jan 1899 in Marschalkenzimmern, Rottweil, Baden-Württemberg.

Marie Catherine Gury

Marie Catherine GURY born 11 Jan 1809 in Altroff, Meurthe, Lorraine, France. This photo is said to be of her. The family story is that Marie Catherine first became a nun and later a Mother Superior. I hope to prove or disprove that story this year.

Marie Catherine's niece Pauline GURY was born 22 Jan 1834 in Léning, Moselle, Lorraine, France.

Pauline immigrated to the United States as a child. Another immigrant Pierre Ferdinand SCHMITT (who was born 28 Jan 1843 in Hellimer, Moselle, Lorraine, France) would later become her sister's brother-in-law.

Swedes with January birthdays in my family tree include Raymond Carl Johan TOLF (also known as Unkie) born 09 Jan 1891 in Batavia, Kane, Illinois. Unkie is the ancestor who piqued my interest in genealogy.

Unkie's cousin Pearl May TOLF was born 01 Jan 1883 in Dixon, Lee, Illinois and  Peter August TOLF was born 01 Jan 1858 in Svenarum, Jönköping, Sweden. 

Peter is Unkie's father and my 2nd great-grandfather. He was a blacksmith and foreman for the Wind Engine and Pump Company in Batavia Illinois.

Many of the Tolf men were blacksmiths including Peter's uncle Anders Gustaf TOLF was born 08 Jan 1821 in Lindefors, Jönköping, Sweden.

Foreman Peter TOLF - front and center

Also hailing from Sweden and born in January; Carl Magnus CARLSON born 05 Jan 1871 in Börstil, Uppsala, Sweden.

From my 2012 Burning Questions list;

• Hanna Sophia PETERSON born 09 Jan 1873 and her brother

• Carl Frithof PETERSON born 27 Jan 1877 in Tånnö, Jonkopings, Sweden

A number of my Manx ancestors were born in the month of January including:

• Abigail WALTON born 31 Jan 1836 in Lonan, Isle of Man
• John WALTON born 24 Jan 1841 in Lonan, Isle of Man
• Margaret WALTON born 19 Jan 1845 in Lonan, Isle of Man
• Mary WALTON born 24 Jan 1847 in Lonan, Isle of Man and
• Jane CHRISTIAN born 20 Jan 1812 in Lonan, Isle of Man who married a Walton

Conspicuously absent from my calendar is the birthDAY of my 2nd great-grandfather Peter THOMPSON. All I know as of this writing is that he was born Jan 1857 in Norway.

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!

Sentimental Sunday ~ Birthday Boy

My first grandchild was born on this day a decade or so ago. I remember driving fast across hundreds of miles to be with my firstborn child and her firstborn child for this momentous event. This young man now stands eye to eye with me. He's beyond handsome with an incredible personality and a very dry sense of humor ~ my favorite kind. Happy Birthday baby!

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.

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.



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.

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.

A Child Lost ~ Josie A Gilman

From the May 15, 1882 edition of the Chicago Daily News, "GILMAN-May 15, 3 a.m., JOSIE A. GILMAN, aged 10 months. Funeral from late residence, 227 Ohio-st."

I located Josie's death certificate using her surname and date of death. The address is the same one found in her obituary. But her parents aren't named.

From her birth certificate above, I learned Josie is the 5th child of George Gilman. But I still don't know her mother's name. For that, I turned to the 1880 census:



Josie's parents are George and Kate Gilman. Her father is a liquor dealer. She had three older sisters and a brother. The family has lived on Ohio Street for at least two years. At first I wasn't sure this was Josie's mother:

But the family's address in the 1900 census confirmed it:

Josie's father George P Gillman died in 1909.

Josie and both her parents are buried in Calvary Cemetery in Chicago.

May they rest in peace.

With the information above, I updated Katie's page on Find A Grave.

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 Gilman descendant, I hope you'll give Josie a special place in your family tree.


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

A Child Lost ~ Katherine Casey

From the November 13, 1880 edition of the Chicago Daily News; "CASEY-Nov. 11, 1880, of diptheria, KITTIE, youngest daughter of Capt. Cornelius and Mary Casey. Funeral from residence, 2906 ?cliff av, at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 14, by carriages to Calvary Cemetery. Friends of the family are invited."

Katie's date and cause of death and the legible part of the family's home address led me to her death certificate:

Katie was only 2-1/2 years old. With that information I located this:

Katie's parents are Cornelius and Mary Casey. Her father is a fireman. This is the first time I have seen the entire dates of birth for both parents on a 19th century Chicago birth certificate. Katie is Mary Casey's fifth child. When she was born the family lived on 35th Street. Here they are in the 1880 census, shortly before Katie arrived:



With the information above, I updated Katie's page on Find A Grave.

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 Casey descendant, I hope you'll give Katie a special place in your family tree.

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