OMG - a little German Family History

Without telling me she was doing so, or even that she had the information, my mother mailed me a substantial box filled with wonderful family history. If I were to guess, I'd say a lot of it was used to create the book "Our Heritage" written/assembled/gathered by my grandparents after WWII and privately published in 1955. Much of it, is 'modern', though - being birth announcements and news paper clippings about weddings and engagements. I also have some items in German which I will need to scan and post to the German Genealogy Facebook page I use and where I find very thoughtful and kind fellow users. As I write this, I realize that much of the files my mother gave me are for my mother's maternal line, the Dommerichs and the Siedenburgs.

Louis Ferdinand Dommerich - immigrant

Reinhard Siedenburg - first generation

As I write this and think about the current immigration situation here in the United States, I reflect on the fact that these men developed wonderful careers and amassed some wealth for their families and participated in the US economy. L.F. Dommerich had a dry goods store, Oelbermann, Dommerich & Co. and R. Siedenburg was the President of the New York Cotton Exchange. They both participated significantly with New York German banks and Insurance companies. It seems perhaps I have not written about these men yet, but I wrote about the Siedenburg immigrant here. 

I seem to have reflected a bit more on the Dommerichs - examples are here and here.

Oddly, though, some of the daughters of the Siedenburg line choose to take their father's money and head back to Germany and hitch themselves to some wealthy industrialists or titles.

(Researching the spelling of LF Dommerich's partner I found the link above. I will have to contact Mr. Walter Grutchfield to see what his connection is with the dry goods store.)

Furniture left to the Lees in Kate Clexton's Will

What hints can we take from this article? First off, weird that this is published in the Troy Record newspaper. I guess the value of estates is public information, but still... now we know that the Lees have some furniture that someone thought was significant enough (significant, but not necessarily valuable... admired?) to bequeath. I wish I knew what/which pieces they were, as then maybe I could ween some of "the Tyranny of the Heirloom" pieces I am now contemplating reupholstering! But, if they have lasted this long, I should save them - better than the crap made in China we buy nowadays, right?

We know this is Nellie Jane because her daughter is mentioned directly after her. Too bad I have not written anything about Margaret - though she is mentioned in Herb's letters.



But who is Kate M. Clexton? Merely a family friend? A neighbor? Could she have been a relative?

Doing a search on Ancestry.com she pops up in a tree created by Garth Burger, though I can't see anything. His information suggests she neither married nor had children. In 1865, at the same age as her cousin, 11, she was living with her aunt and uncle in Albany, NY. She was either born in Missouri or Indiana. By 1910 she is living alone - or at least as the head of household - and working in the Collar business. Of course this was a huge business in Troy and Olive worked for Cluett-Peabody her entire life. We find Kate again, as a collar worker and living as the head of household, in Troy in 1925.

In the 1940 census, she still lives as the head of household, though she no longer claims a profession. She does have a little more education than others on the same page - she claims 2 years of High School education.

So, was she gay? Was she fiercely independent or was she always sad she never had kids? Did she fight for women's suffrage as a young person? Was she so beautiful that she had so many suitors that she couldn't decide? Was she living in sin with the a man she met at work?

After contemplating my questions, I suspect she was a family friend. I can't find her in the Findagrave database, unfortunately. I just sent a message to Garth. Hopefully he will respond and have lots of information about his relative Kate Clexton.

Arthur K. Drake

My wish came true! A family member - a niece - of Mr. Drake has found the WWI Ambulance Corps tree on Ancestry.com and contacted me. I hope she reads this blog as it pertains to Herb's letters home from France and Allentown, Pa, as I suggested, as she might enjoy it. I think she was hoping that I had more information... but what I did have is at least interesting, if she didn't already know about his capture and his involvement with the Ambulance Corps... Everything I had was attached to his entry in the tree, so perhaps she has what she needs/wants. I do hope she responds some more so we might learn about the type of man Arthur Drake was.

Comcast/Xfinity

I know this is not the place, but I decided not to use Facebook as my place to broadcast to the universe how dissatisfied I am with Comcast/Xfinity, but that here might be an opportunity.

Now, I am dissatisfied with the way my call went with them and I will not share this here. What I want to share is that before the call really began, the automated voice asked me if after the call I wanted to participate in a brief customer satisfaction survey - I opted yes, I would.

I just got the call back and the first question they asked was if I was satisfied with my experience... 5 being very satisfied and 1 being very dissatisfied. I pushed 1.... and they promptly hung up on me.  Hmmmm... will my answer be recorded in their database?

More Kirkpatricks at Oakwood Cemetery

OMG - I had no idea....

I just discovered a list of Oakwood Cemetery interments, 1851 - 1872. So easy to search through. I can find my earlier Kirkpatrick relatives... and all the others. And this lists parents of the deceased! What a gold mine!

So, my missing grave entries...

826 01/07/1856 Rachel Kirkpatrick Lansingburgh, N.Y. 17y 2m 7d Lansingburgh, N.Y. Consumption Andrew Kirkpatrick Jane Kirkpatrick A19

I can now tie her to her parents in Findagrave!

828 03/05/1858 James Kirkpatrick Lansingburgh, N.Y. 1y 7m Lansingburgh, N.Y. Inflamn of Bowels James Kirkpatrick Mary Jane Kirkpatrick ?

1250 05/03/1861 John J. Kirkpatrick Green Island, N.Y. 4y 2m Green Island, N.Y. Drowned John Kirkpatrick Sarah J. Kirkpatrick S106

1884 07/13/1864 Andrew Kirkpatrick Lansingburgh 22y Lansingburgh Fever Andrew Kirkpatrick Jane Kirkpatrick A19

This is the Andrew who died while serving in the Civil War.

2447 07/11/1866 Lotta Viola Kirkpatrick Green Island, N.Y. 1m 12d Green Island, N.Y. Whooping Cough Samuel E. Kirkpatrick Charlotte Kirkpatrick G133

2506 01/22/1850 Arthur (Snr) Kirkpatrick Ireland 58y Saratoga Coy, N.Y. Consumption Henry Kirkpatrick Mary Kirkpatrick K40

2507 02/15/1855 Margaret Kirkpatrick Ireland 70y Schuylerville, Sara. Co, N.Y. Old Age . . K40

2508 01/29/1847 Arthur Kirkpatrick Ireland 19y 7m Troy, N.Y. . Arthur Kirkpatrick Margaret Kirkpatrick K40

2870 01/06/1868 James Kirkpatrick Canada 38y Green Island, N.Y. Consumption Joseph Kirkpatrick Grace Kirkpatrick S106

2926 04/11/1868 Lillie Kirkpatrick Aspinwall W. S., Columbia, S.A. 4y Wilmington, Delaware Scarlet Fever Saml E. Kirkpatrick Charlotte Kirkpatrick G133

2978 07/11/1868 Lottie V. Kirkpatrick Green Island, N.Y. 1m 21d Green Island, N.Y. Hooping Cough Samuel E. Kirkpatrick Charlotte N. Kirkpatrick G133 Died July 11, 1866

3661(2) 07/22/1871 William A. Kirkpatrick Reading, N.Y. 32y 7m St. Albany, Vt. Railroad Accident John Kirkpatrick Jane Kirkpatrick N44

Dead Kirkpatricks....

I am sorting through all my papers in my genealogy files and I am trying to figure some out and share them with the world in the hope that perhaps someone will be able to benefit from the investment.

I am uploading the documents a Facebook page for Kirkpatrick Genealogy - so fabulous to have that resource.

But, here they are for the world to see. I have not connected these people to my own family, just the larger clan....

All presidents bar one are directly descended from a medieval English king

And this is the kind of thing that genealogy can do. And one wonders why I am obsessed...

If this is true, how wonderful. And, of course, wikitree claims I am related to Eleanor of Aquitaine.... I haven't quite proven that one yet... but it is one of the trees I have on Ancestry.com, so as hints show up, I can explore more fully. Isn't that a hoot?

Here is the article - found in an English newspaper, though the young lady hails from California.

Exciting Breakthru

Life is good.

I was contacted by a cousin by marriage through wikitree yesterday. Though I learned I have missed the opportunity to speak with a relative who loved to talk about the Maher family, I have gained some information about a branch of my tree which had grown cold. And I have learned where many relatives are buried.

I have made some speculative stories about my great Aunts, Lillian and Roberta.

I have also come up with a theory about how Florence and Herb met; something I now must explore. I will share more as I uncover, but I have always been confused as to what happened to Karolyn and how/when Herb meets my grandmother Florence. There is a Lee in the Maher plot. Might Herb have visited a Lee relative for a holiday event and met Florence there? Could be. I mean, Herb didn't meet Florence in a bar or on-line.... so how did they meet? A family gathering would be very appropriate. Herb was living in New York City without the rest of his family who were in Troy, NY. Of course, this Lee in the Maher burial plot has not yet shown up in my tree... but maybe a little more digging and time will tell.

Ancestry DNA

I had a tremendously exciting event the other day - I found a 2nd cousin once removed through the DNA feature of Ancestry.com. We are now Facebook friends and I am learning about her life and family.
Her mother is my second cousin. Her mother has met my grandmother, and presumably, my mother, too, though no one really remembers that. My mother and my new FB friend/cousin's grandfather are first cousins. They, of course, know one another, but had lost touch. (Thank goodness for Facebook. I mean, what a wonderful way to stay in someone else's life without being totally intrusive.)
An additional twist to this story is that my newly found cousin is adopted - though she knows both her biological parents. Her father is also adopted, so if and when she gets another hit and finds a relative of his, that could be really exciting and scary for her.

On another incredibly fun note, my DNA-found cousin's biological mother, my second cousin, is moving very close to where I live and we are all going to get together. How wonderful is that? Additionally, I don't have much information on that branch of the tree, so I am hoping she will have photographs and stories to tell. Wouldn't that be a hoot?

Birthday for a member in my German Family Tree

Auguste Louise Henriette Charlotte Busse

A 2nd cousin 4 times removed....

But today is her birthday.

I am trying to include her family tree, but it may not be working...

embeddable family tree updated live from WikiTree

Thomas M. Nial

Herb's wounded friend has been found by my own 3rd cousin, Chuck C.!

Thomas M. Nial was living just down the street from Herb and is only 2 years older than Herb. It appears that he also enlisted. I believe he was in the Signal Corps, if I am reading these documents correctly. Seems he went ROTC and was employed at the Madison Barracks in NY. One can find more information about the Barracks here.



I copied this photograph from the Ancestry web site.



Now, this image, also from Ancestry, would seem to indicate that he did not get wounded.... Odd. I am not sure what to make of it. It claims he was at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, DC and it claims he was overseas until October 18, 1919.

Now, I found another document on Ancestry...



Ok, maybe I have figured this out.... he was in ROTC in school and he was a private. Then he was promoted to First Lieutenant and served overseas. Why they would make two cards or abstracts for him, I don't know. And perhaps he was not wounded in action - maybe he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or maybe there was some sort of accident. I am not sure where this information might be had.

Oh, wait - it says that he "was reported 30 per cent disabled on date of discharge in view of occupation" Huh. I suppose I could write the Archives to find out more information about him.

It seems, through Ancestry, that Tom got married and died in North Carolina. Though, of course I am not 100% certain I have the 'right' person.

I just found Tom and his family in the Troy, NY 1920 Federal Census and flipping one or two pages I find Herb's family in the same census. So, I guess I did (wait, I mean Chuck!) find the 'right' person. Tom is living at home with his mother and father, no profession listed. According to the 'related content' on Ancestry, he did marry, and he did travel. I hope Tom had a very nice life and he has lots of descendants who loved him.

This information seems appropriate for Veteran's Day, doesn't it? I want to express my gratitude to all the soldiers who put themselves in harm's way to protect the rest of us; and to their families, for I can only imagine what a sacrifice it is for them.

A Genealogist's nightmare

I can't imagine this - to discover you have TWIN out there and no one told you. And to find her serendipitously through social media? What are the chances?

Anais Bordier was raised in France as an only child. When a friend shared a photo on Facebook of an American girl with similar looks, the adopted 25-year-old thought she might have found a long-lost relative. But then she discovered that the girl, Samantha Futerman, had also been adopted from South Korea—and shared the same birthday. “She had my laugh, my freckles,” Bordier said of their first Skype conversation. DNA tests soon confirmed the connection the pair suspected, and the twin sisters were recently reunited. “We’ve resumed our life together,” Futerman said, “with no fear of ever being separated again.”

I found this in The Week Magazine's October 31st, 2014 edition.

Archduke Ferdinand is assassinated

Tomorrow marks the 100 year anniversary of the event that started it all.

It also marks the 95th anniversary of the Versailles Treaty.

As learned from the History Channel:

On this day in 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie are shot to death by a Bosnian Serb nationalist during an official visit to the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo. The killings sparked a chain of events that led to the outbreak of World War I by early August. On June 28, 1919, five years to the day after Franz Ferdinand's death, Germany and the Allied Powers signed the Treaty of Versailles, officially marking the end of World War I.

See original image here.

The archduke traveled to Sarajevo in June 1914 to inspect the imperial armed forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908. The annexation had angered Serbian nationalists, who believed the territories should be part of Serbia. A group of young nationalists hatched a plot to kill the archduke during his visit to Sarajevo, and after some missteps, 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip was able to shoot the royal couple at point-blank range, while they traveled in their official procession, killing both almost instantly.

The assassination set off a rapid chain of events, as Austria-Hungary immediately blamed the Serbian government for the attack. As large and powerful Russia supported Serbia, Austria asked for assurances that Germany would step in on its side against Russia and its allies, including France and possibly Great Britain. On July 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and the fragile peace between Europe's great powers collapsed, beginning the devastating conflict now known as the First World War.

After more than four years of bloodshed, the Great War ended on November 11, 1918, after Germany, the last of the Central Powers, surrendered to the Allies. At the peace conference in Paris in 1919, Allied leaders would state their desire to build a post-war world that was safe from future wars of such enormous scale. The Versailles Treaty, signed on June 28, 1919, tragically failed to achieve this objective. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's grand dreams of an international peace-keeping organization faltered when put into practice as the League of Nations. Even worse, the harsh terms imposed on Germany, the war's biggest loser, led to widespread resentment of the treaty and its authors in that country--a resentment that would culminate in the outbreak of the Second World War two decades later.

On a side note, as I was writing this post I looked a little more closely at the History Channel's information. I thought it serendipitous that today also happens to be the day in 1844 when Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon religion, was killed in his jail cell. As an on-line genealogists I owe a lot to the Latter Day Saints for their record keeping - and I am under the impression that Ancestry.com may have originated from their efforts.

Backpacks and Meeting the Parents

OMG, he does love her. What could have happened to her? To them? Herb marries my grandmother in 1923 when he is back in Brooklyn working at an advertising agency, Barrows & Richardson, as an executive assistant. Their first child comes more than 9 months after the wedding, so I am not going to think less of him.

Charles is a bit older than Herb – by about 8 years.

So, backpacks? The evolution of military equipment described right here for us to learn.

Thursday (August 23), 1917
Dear Mother,

Your letter came today. I was awfully sorry to hear that you have been having trouble with your liver. I do hope that the doctoring will put you in good shape again in short order.

Did I tell you that I have been vaccinated? The doctor looked at it again today and pronounced it ok. Now that it has taken I’m through with vaccines for a while, I hope. At least I am supposed to be immune from typhoid, paratyphoid and small pox for some time to come – probably from on five years.

When we were out on the hike we used old style knapsacks and other equipment but today they gave us the new model packs. The old ones hang by your side in a long strap over your shoulder but these new ones have straps over both shoulders and they ride up high right between your shoulders. They sort of cut your shoulders at first but the weight of them sits better. I also now have three sets of good heavy all wool underwear regular back woods stuff. It will be fine and warm.

I knew of course that Karolyn had been up to see you. I don’t need to say that I’m awfully glad you can love her too. I don’t know what I should do if you didn’t. I’m sure you’ll never have reason to change your mind. She’s just as fine and sweet as she seems. I ought to know after all this time.

We may possibly be let off at noon Saturday or perhaps eleven o’clock – right after inspection. In that case I’ll drop in and see Chas and Grace before I go to Bridgeport. And don’t worry about my keeping K out late. I’m just as jealous of her reputation as anyone else – with good reason.

Lots of love,
Herb

I’ll probably be too busy to write Sunday so I’ll wait till Monday.

He’s so gallant; what a gentleman.
I do have to say, though, I am so surprised about how much traveling they have been doing. It's not like Troy, NY where my great grandmother is living, is close by. Traveling from Jersey City, to NYC, to Bridgeport, to Troy; I'd be exhausted and I have a car at my disposal.
My grandmother lived to a ripe old age, so I am not going to worry about her liver trouble.

#1 Reviewer

TripAdvisor is telling me I am their #1 reviewer in my hometown with 169 reviews and 69 helpful votes. It's nice to get the recognition.

Of course now I have been doing so much genealogy research and writing that I can't even get in 5k steps in a day. Luckily I have a gym appointment today, otherwise I wouldn't walk further than the bathroom and kitchen. Obsession can be scary....

Burger King Baby

Holy Christmas. I mean, this is obviously a blessing, but what a world. As reported in my favorite magazine, The Week:

A 27-year-old Pennsylvania woman known as the “Burger King baby” has found her birth mother, calling their reunion “pure joy.” Katheryn Deprill was just a newborn in 1986 when her mother left her in a Burger King bathroom in Allentown, Pa. Deprill’s tale went viral after she posted her story on Facebook, pleading for help in finding the woman who had left her behind. The post found its way to her mother, who contacted Deprill’s attorney to arrange a meeting. “She left me somewhere she knew I’d be found,” Deprill said. “She did not want to throw me away.”

I am thankful Katheryn found her birth mother. I hope they can have a relationship. I wish the mother had taken the child to the fire station, but perhaps that program for babies was not yet in place. But, the wonders of social media in this world.

A Long Lost Sister Right Next Door - from the Week Magazine

I had to share the following blurb from the February 28th edition of The Week Magazine:

A long-lost sister right next door
North Dakotan John Maixner spent years exchanging friendly hellos with Walmart greeter Buddine Bullinger, only to discover recently that she is his long-lost sister. Maixner, a brother, and three sisters were given up for adoption 50 years ago, and just last year he began searching for his birth family. When he tracked down a picture of his siblings, his jaw dropped as he realized that he knew Bullinger. The pair now speak by phone nearly every day, and Maixner has reconnected with his siblings and their children. “I gained a huge family,” he said.

How wonderful is this story? I can't imagine having my family split up in such a manner, but to then find them? What a blessing. It's too bad that the article doesn't mention how they found one another. I did find a third cousin through Ancestry.com DNA, though I am disappointed to report that she does not seem all that interested in connecting. I have heard stories about people trying to scam others through Ancestry connections. The scam goes something like this: people become close/connected and then the scammer asks their 'family' to lend them money. An alarming possibility which leads to a lot of distrust on the site.

Separated siblings

I read a fabulous blurb in the April 18th edition of The Week Magazine:

After 18 years apart, two long lost sisters have reunited through social media. Nia Edwards, 23, has been searching for her scattered siblings for years. She scoured Facebook, My Space, and Twitter without any luck. In one last effort to reconnect, she downloaded Instagram and was immediately successful. Brenda Edwards has been looking for her sibs as well. "She had followed so many people names Nia Edwards, hoping that one was me," said an overjoyed Nia. "I was so happy that I called my local news station."

What a wonderful story; the internet and social media has been so helpful for genealogy, too. Being Facebook friends with cousins I can add their joyful events to my Family Tree Maker software without having to pester them. (Or, I can easily pester them for the details, and I can copy some of the photographs they post.) I have also 'friended' cousins who I have connected through this genealogical research, so I can have an idea about the lives of third cousins who live many miles away.