Clemens Schreiber - The Genealogist

Map of Germany 1815 - The same year my immigrant ancestor Johannes Blum was born in Ahlersbach. Hessen Kassel is in the center in brown

1




On December 10, 2012, I received an email from Sue Foster. She emailed me to let me know that at the end of November our mutual friend Clem Schreiber had had some major heart problems with resulting surgeries.

I came to know of Sue through searching the Internet for information on Kreis (county) Schluechtern. I my search, I found some pages that Sue had put up about her family in Oberkalbach. Find the pages here http://ursula.foster.cc/   She also has a a CD with the marriages of the Kreis of Schluechtern from 1718-1873 found here http://ursula.foster.cc/page73.html

Sue was born in Germany and immigrated to the USA after World War II. Her mother's family was from Oberkalbach which is included in the area of Schluechtern that I was searching.

My immigrant ancestor Johannes Blum came from Ahlersbach in the Kreis of Schluechtern. I contacted  Sue hoping that she could help me in my search for information about my ancestors via her Schluechtern marriage CD. She checked her CD for the marriage of Johannes Blum and Anna Catharina but was unable to find anything. She then referred me to Clemens Schreiber for further help in my genealogical pursuits on the Blum family because the church books for this area are only found in Germany. She gave me his address in Germany and I wrote to him. Present day Ahlersbach is now incorporated into the city of Schluechtern.

Ahlersbach 

Clem lives in the city of Schluechtern and is a native of Germany. He is in his 80's and does not use email but prefers the traditional route of postal service. Lucky for me, he does speak/read English - so the letter writing worked just great.

Clem is amazing! He is a great genealogists with wonderful attention to detail. He has all of the Evangelische (Lutheran) records for the Schluechtern area at his disposal. Most of which he has transcribed and ready for use. He enjoys genealogy and had worked for years helping many people with their own family research. He only charged me $7 per family that he found - which is very inexpensive. Most genealogists charge you much, much more.

I corresponded with Clem for maybe 9 or 10 months in gathering all of my families from Kreis Schluechtern and a few families found beyond this area. He found over 600 people from my family that I did not know about. I learned from Clem and as a result became a better researcher. I can't thank Clem enough for all of the research he did on my behalf. I wish him the best in his return to good health. He truly has been a heavenly aid to many people. There are still good people!

Next time: Part 2 - the story before Clem - Heaven Intervenes.

Bigler Historical Monument

Hannah Bigler

A few weeks ago while reading the LDS Church News, I found an article about the Bigler family from    Harrison County, (West)Virginia. This peaked my interest because I am related to the Bigler family through my grandfather Dean Secrist. My 3rd great grandmother is Hannah Bigler born 24 June 1820 Clarksburg, Harrison, (West) Virginia. Of course I put "west" in parentheses because West Virginia did not exist when Hannah was born. Hannah's father Jacob Jr. and his brother Mark both joined the LDS Church in (West) Virginia and came west to Nauvoo, Illinois.


An attorney Tom O'Neill residing in Clarksburg, West Virginia became interested in the Bigler family, through the well known LDS Relief Society President Bathsheba Bigler (Hannah's cousin), who married George A. Smith. Mr. O'Neill decided that there should be a monument recognizing the Bigler family homestead in Harrison County. He researched the old land records, used modern software to convert the metes and bounds and ultimately found a large portion of the original Bigler property still in one piece in Enterprise, West Virginia. It is a tear drop piece of land near a bridge. Mr. O'Neill then used his resources and had a historical marker placed on the main road about a mile from the original Bigler Homestead. If you want to read the article go here http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/63004/Historical-marker-honors-Bathsheba-Smith.html#

The Bigler family were early settlers of Harrison County with the father Jacob Bigler, Sr. marrying in Pennsylvania, then moving to Harrison County and raising his family there. There are many interesting stories in the Bigler family. I will dedicate future posts to those stories. They were right in the thick of many happenings after joining the LDS Church.

Jacob Bigler, Sr. grave marker Enterprise, West Virginia

I appreciate the efforts of Tom O'Neill in placing the historical marker in remembrance of the Bigler's. When I get all the way to the east coast (which I will), I will be sure to make a stop in Enterprise, West Virginia, take a photo and of course write about it.
I appreciate the efforts of Tom O'Neill in placing this historical marker. When I get all the way to the east coast, I will visit this family marker and of course, write about it.

Part 2 - Neustadt an der Haardt, A Place of Meeting

Neustadt an der Haardt

Maria Carolina Margaretha Werner was born in this city that is nestled up against the Haardt Mountains. Thus the name, Neustadt an der Haardt. This is a place of grape growing and wine making - much like the surrounding area where I grew up. It is also a place of immigrants. People coming from other villages, towns and cities. There were the farmers, growing grapes but there was also the city life including a wide range of craftsmen. My male relations from Neustadt are a linen merchant, three bakers, and a potter.

I encountered several challenges in Neustadt. First, was the intermarriage between those of differing religious backgrounds. Having to check back and forth between the Lutheran and Reformed church records to make sure I didn't miss anyone. Second, was that as I began to trace the family of Carolina Werner, I found that her father and maternal grandparents did not count Neustadt as their place of birth. Requiring more figuring and more work looking for their towns of origin.

Evangelische Kirche (Lutheran) Neustadt built 1400

This is were the "Burgerbuchs" come into play. Most towns that I have researched in Germany have a very slim record selection to search. Usually there are the church records and limited civil records that were microfilmed. Neustadt, on the other hand, has many different kinds of records that were microfilmed. Lucky me! I sort of stumbled onto the Burgerbuchs.

Burgerbuchs are citizenship books. Citizenship books kept a record of those requiring citizenship in the desired town by "foreigners" (those not born in the desired town) and by natives. In each entry is recorded personal information about the person desiring citizenship and the monetary fee that was paid. Each male was assessed a fee and each married woman was assessed a fee as well. I am still trying to get more information on town citizenship's and how they worked - the various fees, various appointed accounts the fees went to, who paid and why and what the money went to, what age/marital status - especially of natives citizenship fees. I think this will be something I will have to study as I finish my degree.

I did find the citizenship record of Carolina Werner's father Johann Georg Werner. He was from Kaiserslautern, a city found 23 miles to the west and a bit north. I also found the citizenship records for Carolina Werner's grandfather Martin Brenner. He came from the Elsass Lothringen area, an area that is now apart of France. The town he came from is Hordt. As a frame of reference, it is just outside of Strassburg. Hordt is about 61 miles southwest of Neustadt. Martin Brenner's second wife Susanna Maria Uberweg - the grandmother of Carolina Werner also had a citizenship record because she was from the neighboring town of Bochingen, 10 miles away. So, a fee had to be paid in her behalf. Of course, she did not have the same citizenship rights allotted to her husband, as she was a woman.

Georg Werner's citizenship record Neustadt

Martin Brenner's citizenship record Neustadt 3rd entry

Susanna Maria Uberweg's citizenship record Neustadt bottom right entry

page 2 of Susanna Maria Uberweg's citizenship record Neustadt top left

(I know that I should take the time to crop these records but my attention is needed elsewhere now.)

As it turns out Susanna Maria Uberweg's father Johann Jacob was born in Neustadt but married, worked and raised his family in Bochingen. But, on the story goes, as Johann Jacob's father was not born in Neustadt but somewhere else entirely. (I am currently deciphering the place name - only recorded once - no Burgerbuchs that early.) As the title of my post says: Neustadt and der Haardt - A Place of Meeting.

Part 1 - Maria Carolina Margaretha Werner

Last spring I began researching my Doll family from Edenkoben, Germany, which I posted about awhile back. They emigrated to the US in 1846 and settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The father Wilhelm Doll came to Milwaukee with his married children, their spouses and children, as well as his unmarried children. He was close to 70 years old when he decided to leave behind all that he knew and head for America. What a spirit of adventure. Many people of his time period had already died by the time they were 70 and he decided to start a new life as a farmer in Wisconsin, even though he had worked his whole life as a baker. Back then there was no such thing as retirement. Just work, and more work.

It is tiny to read. But it says christened Anna Barbara, daughter of Johann Wilhelm Doll, master baker and his wife Carolina Werner. Then it goes on to state the witnesses for the christening.This is their 10th and final child.

I have set up the background - now on to the real reason for the post. Carolina Werner, the wife of Wilhelm Doll died in 1844 in Edenkoben. She has been a real mystery for as long as I have been doing genealogy (19 years). No one could ever seem to find her parents because they could not find her marriage record to Wilhelm. Well, I decided to do some careful checking of all of the records that I could find her apart of. I started slowly going through her children's christening records.

I found 3 christening records with Werner's as the witnesses. Carolina's first child born was Johann Georg b-1802 in Edenkoben. The witnesses for his christening were J. Georg Werner and his wife Catharina from Neustadt. Here is the entry below. (One of the Werner's for another christening was Carolina's sister Margaretha).

This entry is in table format. Most all of the entries are in paragraph form like the first image and give a bit more information.

It began searching the church books of Neustadt. There are Lutheran, Reformed and Catholic church books. I began with Reformed because that was the religion of Wilhelm Doll. I did not have much luck at first, so I switched to the Lutheran records. I found Carolina's birth and christening entry.

After many days of searching, I finally realized that Georg Werner and his wife Catharina Brenner each came from different religious backgrounds. Georg was from the Reformed church and Catharina was from the Lutheran church. So, they struck a deal with each other. All of their daughters were christened in the Lutheran church and all of their sons were christened in the Reformed church. This seems normal enough but this was the first time I had come across this mixing of religions. All the other German people I have researched all married within their religion. The Reformed religion were Calvinist. This southwestern part of Germany had many towns with Reformed churches, where other areas of Germany did not have any. Later the Reformed and Lutheran churches were forced to merge.

Carolina Werner was the seventh of nine children. Her father Geog Werner was a master baker in Neustadt an der Haardt which is about 61/2 miles from Edenkoben. Neustadt was one of the larger cities in the area. Many people came from different towns to work there(based on the Burgerbuchs). Wilhelm must of went there to apprentice as a baker and met Georg. Then meeting and later marrying Georg's daughter Carolina. Wilhelm eventually set up shop as a baker in his hometown of Edenkoben where our story began.

I will begin part 2 of the story next time.

Where in the World is My Dad's House?

During our adventures in Iowa, we went through Cedar Rapids looking for the house that my dad grew up in. I texted my mom and asked what the address was and they texted it back as 1601 East Ave......then 1601 E Ave........then 1601 E Ave NE. The memories were coming back. My dad remember that all the streets in Cedar Rapids end in some direction, such as, NW or SE.

I was excited. I now had an address to work with. I typed the address into my phone and attempted to find my way through the streets of Cedar Rapids. For those of you who might not know, there are many rivers, creeks and streams in Iowa. One of those rivers is the Cedar River that runs through the city of Cedar Rapids. It is a large river that serves as a natural break creating sections of the city.

We dutifully followed the directions provided by my phone. We arrived at the single story, cream colored house and I snapped several pictures. Here is one.

I later texted my mom and realized that this is actually not my dad's childhood home. Wrong house! My dad grew up in a 2 story home on a corner. The home was supposedly built in the 1800's. As you can see this is not the home. So, what happened with my "made to order" directions found on my phone? As it turns out, the house pictured above is located at 1601 E Ave NW, not the correct 1601 E Ave NE. 

The one and only time I have traveled to Cedar Rapids, I don't find the right house. Such are the hazards of the GPS. You never know where you will end up. This is not the first and I am sure not the last time I will end up in the wrong place holding my wonderful GPS in hand. Below is the correct home. It is the light colored one on the left corner. I know, not the same as my own picture. Google Earth did not have a street image of the house, only an aerial image. 

Since we are on the topic of my dad's childhood.  Here are a few pictures of  the school's that my dad attended. First is a picture of Franklin Middle School.

Next is Washington High School.

Okay dad. The middle school looks like it is still the same but I don't know about the high school. I did see on wikipedia that it was built in 1956. So maybe you attended your sophomore, junior and senior years at this particular high school?

Babies - Not to be forgotten!

This week I discovered a great website called WRG or the Whitney Research Group. As I said before, my grandmother is Yoland Whitney. Her family is where I first dipped my fingers into genealogy. The Whitney family is a historic American family. The first Whitney family must of been the adventurous type, taking their chances in America, and arriving in Massachusetts in 1635, not too many years after the first Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. They served in all the major wars beginning with the Revolutionary War.

On a fluke, I decided to look up some information on my ancestor Joseph Whitney. The one that settled in Iowa. This is when I found the Whitney Research Group's website. It is set up as a wiki, so that all members can contribute to the wiki, to the research being done on the Whitney family. I am currently trying to become a member. As you can imagine, there are a lot of Whitney descendants, from every walk of life and from all over the United States. There is also a Facebook group for Whitney's. Note - the WRG was not started by Mormons, just people who like their family history.

As I began clicking on "my" Whitney people, I saw several children of Joseph Whitney that I did not know existed. I thought I knew everything I should know about Joseph Whitney. Well....apparently not! Joseph first married Martha Peterson 7 March 1850 in Lee County, Illinois. Not so fortunate - she had a short life and a short marriage, dying 25 April 1852. Previously unknown to me is that Joseph and Martha had a son together. His name is Henry B. Whitney born 3 June 1851 in Lee County, Illinois. He died 27 September 1852, at the very young age of almost 16 months. Lee County, Illinois does not have birth records available for this time period nor do they have death records. They have marriage records and cemetery records. I did not find Henry in the Evergreen, aka the Peterson cemetery where his mother is buried. So.... no record of Henry, right? Surprise! The Joseph Whitney Family Bible!

The woman who posted the information about Henry, found it recorded in the family bible that had been passed down to her through her maternal line beginning with Inez, Joseph's daughter. Recorded in the bible is Joseph's birth and death, his 2 wives births and deaths, his children's births and deaths, and his children's marriages. Bible records are considered a valid source and in the case of a lack of other records, they become the primary record. How grateful I am for the tradition of family bibles and genealogy.

The next surprise child I found is Joseph and Dorothy (Dorothy is Martha's sister) Peterson Whitney's first born child. After Martha died, Joseph married her sister Dorothy 30 December 1852. Their first child Jonathan was born 28 September 1853 in Lee County, IL and died in the same place 1 November 1853.

Two babies that would otherwise remain unknown, if not for family record keeping and the tradition of preserving and passing down family heirlooms. I wish I had that family bible to treasure and pass down but the descendants of Inez Whitney have done a fabulous job. What more could I ask.

Prairieburg - Whatever you do, don't get off the road.

On to more stories from our trip to the Midwest. Of course on our travels to the Midwest, we had to pay a visit to the great state of Iowa, since my dad grew up there. My dad was a city boy. He grew up in Cedar Rapids but his mother Yoland Whitney was a country girl, born and raised in Prairieburg, as many of the Whitney's were. Prairieburg is about 30 miles northeast of Cedar Rapids.

Prairieburg was where life in Iowa began for the Whitney's. Apparently in 1855 there was a plan of sorts hatched between Joseph Whitney (Yoland's grandfather), his brother in law Charles Chadwick and his uncle Alvah Whitney, to travel from Lee Center Township, Illinois, where they were all living, to the land office in Dubuque, Iowa to buy land from the US government. Land available for those who were willing to work hard and make a life for themselves in the unsettled parts of Linn County, Iowa.

Alvah, the older and more experienced uncle led the way. Alvah had already purchased 800 acres in Lee County, Illinois and a few years later would purchase another 200 acres there to make it an even 1,000 acres. At the land office in Dubuque, with the younger Joseph and Charles under his wing, he did buy 320 acres of land in the rolling hills of Iowa. Joseph bought 320 acres as well and Charles bought 160 acres. All this acreage was found in the township of Boulder - which would house the town of Prairieburg where my said grandmother, Yoland Whitney was born and raised.

(Just a note - *A few years later, in 1857, Joseph bought another 240 acres in Boulder Township.)

Joseph later donated the land for the Prairieburg Cemetery. He along with many of my relatives are buried  there. As you can imagine, I also have many other relatives buried in the many small towns that are scattered around Linn County.

We began our journey through Linn County by finding and visiting the Lafayette Cemetery. The Lafayette Cemetery is a beautiful little rural cemetery with a white church and corn fields surrounding it. There were also some handy but then again not so handy outhouses located there. I located a number of my great grandmother Anna Blum's family there. Yeah, success!

Our next stop was the Prairieburg Cemetery. After a short drive past a few creeks and around some hills, we found the town of Prairieburg. I had my directions telling me which way to go. We began down a gravel road but then we had the bright idea that we must be going the wrong way. So, we decided to turn around and head back into town in hopes of further enlightenment as to which way to go.

Well, this is where the trouble began. Turning around on a gravel road is no big deal, right? We have lots of dirt/gravel roads in Utah. We are professionals at turning around! It is very green in Iowa, with rolling hills and lots of creeks and rivers everywhere. On either side of the road there was grass and other vegetation growing. Looked okay to me. Nothing much to worry about. Well, as Dan began to turn around, he swung a bit off the road and our car immediately started sliding and tipping down into the seemingly harmless grass. Unknown to us was that the grass was covering up the deep ditches on both sides of the road.

I started yelling as we slid down into the ditch and I watched out my window as the car began to tip. The kids were too horrified to say anything. Dan kept his cool and turned and turned the wheel to keep us from tipping. He then stopped and tried to back up. Didn't work. Then he put it into 4-wheel drive and tried to drive forward and out of the ditch. After turning and I mean turning the wheel, along with the 4-wheel drive, we finally got out and back up onto the beloved gravel road.

After a great sigh of relief, we quickly noticed that something wasn't quite right with our Suburban - the vehicle that was supposed to take us through the Midwest and back to our home in Utah. We drove slowly back into town and parked our car on a side street. Dan got out and began checking the car. In the meantime, I asked a man if he knew how to get to the Prairieburg Cemetery. It took him a minute to recall the cemetery that was actually only a few minutes down the road. He was nice but was enjoying his evening beer or two.

Next came a man with a bag full of Japanese beetles. He had thousands of these bugs crawling around each other in a large clear sack. The man was in his 80's and had a Japanese beetle trap in his yard. He had already collected another bag full earlier in the day. He lived next door to the man with the can of beer.

You see, not much goes on in Prairieburg, so our arrival was causing a small stir. It is a lovely, quiet town but with no amenities to be had. Next came a man on a motorcycle. He told us that he had driven home from Colorado that day on his motorcycle. We asked him if there happened to be a mechanic in town. He said yes and went to go get him from his home, as his shop was closed for the day. He soon came back with the mechanic, who immediately began checking out our woeful car.

As all of this was going on, I continued to have a nice conversation with the elderly man holding the bag full of beetles, while the man with the can of beer listened. It turns out that the elderly man and I were related to each other. He was not a close relative but nonetheless, he was related and knew all about the Whitney family. He told me where the cemetery is and where Harley Whitney owned a farm. It was almost like a movie scene.

The power steering had broken and they had no parts and could not help us in Prairieburg. Without power steering, we drove slowly south to the nearest "big" town of Marion. We found a mechanic in the morning who promised us our car would be fixed by 12pm. Didn't happen. Instead, all seven of us had to drag our luggage through Marion to the mechanics shop and wait until 3pm when the car was finally deemed road worthy.

The final scene of this story is when we finally found the Prairieburg Cemetery. We took lots of pictures as so many of my relatives are buried there. Our trip to Prairieburg turned out to be a memory maker in more ways than one.

What happened to the Mormon monument?

The Jacob Foutz Secrist Monument - Jefferson County, Nebraska


In July Dan and I gathered up our children, our suitcases and headed off to the Midwest. I had never been any father east than Colorado. I know - not very far! One of the items on our agenda was to find the Mormon monument that was erected through the efforts of Wanda Secrist Telford to honor her great grandfather and my 3rd great grandfather - Jacob Foutz Secrist.

Jacob Foutz Secrist joined the LDS Church in 1844 in Illinois. He and his wife, Ann Eliza Logan were living in Olge County, Illinois when the missionaries came through. Olge County is in Northern Illinois. In the middle, almost at the top. They were among the first Mormons to come west to Utah, arriving in October 1847 with the Hunter/Foutz Company. The co-captain of the pioneer company was Jacob Foutz, Jacob's namesake and uncle. Jacob also had an aunt - Elizabeth Foutz who joined the LDS church as well.

In 1848, after arriving in the Great Salt Lake Valley, Ann Eliza - Jacob's wife was baptized. I love to know my 3rd great grandmother had backbone. She didn't join the LDS church just because her husband did. She waited until she was ready - until she felt good about it. She would need that backbone later.

Jacob and Ann Eliza settled with their baby daughter Louisa in Farmington, Utah. They had lost their first daughter, also named Loueasa (just spelled differently) in a tragic accident. She had fallen in a tub of very hot water and suffered for hours until she finally died from her extensive burns. They went on to have 3 more children - Mary, Jacob and Heber. Heber being my 2nd great grandfather.

In a "special conference" held 28 August 1852 in "Great Salt Lake City", Jacob along with 4 others were called on a mission to Germany. Only a couple of weeks later Jacob left on 15 September to begin his journey to Germany to preach the gospel. He left his wife 8 1/2 months pregnant. Ann Eliza delivered their fifth child only 2 weeks later. Jacob actually had a dream while traveling east that Ann Eliza had delivered a son. Based on his dream, Jacob sent a letter to Ann Eliza requesting that she name their son Nephi. She named their son Heber Nephi.

Jacob served for 3 years. On his journey back to Utah, Jacob became a captain of a pioneer wagon train heading to Utah. Jacob contracted cholera and became ill 29 June 1855 and died near the Little Blue River, Jefferson, Nebraska on 2 July. He was buried in a tin box near the banks of the Little Blue River.

Now fast forward to 1976. Wanda Secrist Telford researched the Oregon Trail and the diary of Charles Smith, a member of the pioneer wagon train that Jacob was captain of to locate the place where Jacob was buried. Wanda was able to work with a Miss Carpenter from the Jefferson County, Nebraska Historical Society to erect a monument to honor Jacob and 13 others in his wagon train that died. On 20 June 1976, as apart of the Jefferson County Bicentennial celebrations, the Mormon monument was erected.

Well now, back to my summer trip in search of the monument. We follow the directions I found on the Internet passing field after field of corn and soy beans - fields everywhere! We eventually drive through the metropolis of Powell.

This is the sign across the street from the Town of Powell sign. Someone has a sense of humor!

We eventually arrive at the white historic school house where the monument is supposed to be. Well, we look around and can't see it. I start looking closely at the grass for a cement base that the monument would of rested on. I first find the top of the torn down monument lying in the grass by the fence. It was still intact. Then I find the cement base and pieces what was the monument under a cedar tree. Here are the pictures.

So, this is the sad ending to our quest to find the Mormon monument in the corn and soy bean fields of Jefferson county. Apparently, sometime between 2008 and now, someone decided to destroy the monument. I don't know why. All of the other monuments were left in place around the historic school house. Below are the pictures of the other things there at the historic site and  a picture of the Little Blue River - very close to where Jacob Secrist was buried in his tin box, never to see his family in Utah again.
He loved his family and I have many letters he wrote. Another time I will share some of his thoughts. But, I will end with these words. "I say, may the Lord bless you all of my children with health and long life and peaceful days is the prayer of an affectionate father. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

The Little Blue River

My Sister - Regina

I have been thinking for some time now that I would write a post about my sister Regina who passed away many years ago. Earlier this week while I was on an early morning hike by myself - I was adding up how many years it has been since Regina died. 28 years ago this last April Regina's life on this earth ended. But, before I get to the end of her story, let me go back to the beginning.

It is interesting how as I get older many memories fade but so many of my memories of Regina are still clear in my mind. Regina came to this earth two years before I arrived. Regina and I are the closest in age out of all of my mother's children. I have many memories of Regina and I playing together as we grew up. We spent some part of everyday playing together. We swam, rode bikes, played softball, walked to AM/PM - the local convenience store, played house and school, built blanket forts and the list goes on. We also fought with each as I was I terrible tease. But, we always forgave each other and began our fun again. Because of Regina I always had a ready companion. I was lucky.

But, because of Regina I also began to learn early in my life about the realities of being mortal and that this life is temporary. My first lesson in the realities of being mortal took place when we were living in Pleasant Hill, CA. I was in first grade and Regina was in third grade when one day after school as I was walking to the bus to go home for the day - one of the people that worked at the school approached me and explained to me that Regina had blacked out and rolled under one of the waiting school buses. I remember sitting on some steps as this situation was explained to me. I was just 6 years old trying to understand what had happened to my sister.

Because Regina and I were so often together, I had the experience of being present a number of times when she would "black out". There were times when I was alone with her and felt scared as I did not understand why she was blacking out and how I could help her. But as I think back now, I am sure that I was not alone. I am sure in those mortal moments, when earth and heaven were meeting that Regina had someone there aiding her and prolonging her time on this earth.

Recently, I read an account of a woman had a near death experience. She drowned while kayaking in Chile. She was married, the mother of 4 children, a spine surgeon and a christian. She remembers not feeling scared as she was trapped underwater and drowned. She felt peace and love surrounding her. She left her body and went with a group of heavenly beings. But as she reached a certain point she had to return to her body. Her mortal experience was not over.

An angel explained to her that she had specific things that she needed to do before her time on earth was over. One of the things she needed to do was help her family deal with the future death of her son, Willie. Her son was alive and healthy at that point but would die in the coming years.

She explains to the reader that when her son Willie was about 4 or 5 years old that one day she was just chatting with her son and made the random comment, "When you are eighteen..." Her young son then said,"But I'm not going to be eighteen." She then said, "What did you say?" Her son looked at her seriously and said, "You know. I'm never going to be eighteen. That's the plan. You know that." He acted as though I must already know the plan for his life. She never shared this conversation with anyone until Willie's eighteenth birthday approached and then she finally shared it with her husband. Willie did pass away suddenly after being struck by a car while doing dry land training for the ski team he was on.

As I read this account, I thought of Regina's life. Her life's plan was similar to Willie's - in that she was never going to grow old. Although she would come very close, she was never going to reach her 14th birthday. She would come and go all in a short time.

Her last day on this earth was a perfect one. It was everything a young girl would want, especially Regina who loved to be outside. It was a beautiful April day in Fairfield. It was warm and sunny. We played outside most of the day. We were then invited to go swimming at a friend's house. Of course, we went. We swam with our friends. As I was swimming in the deep end of the pool, Regina was in the shallow end and stopped breathing and slipped under the water. There was an immediate commotion and I turned around in the deep end and saw the other people in the pool lifting Regina out of the water. They carried her to the patio and the poor mother of the house where were swimming at called for help and began CPR. The ambulance arrived quickly and began trying to get Regina to breathe again. I then left the backyard and walked home.

Later, at home my sister Teri told me that Regina had died. It was all very hard to understand, especially since Regina had previously blacked out in our local public swimming pool. So, being young and full of faith, I thought Regina would be fine. I had watched her recover many times, so of course she would recover again. So, when I was 11 years old (almost 12), I learned the final lesson, that this life is temporary. It was a very hard lesson to learn at such a young age. It changed me. I could never go back to my youthful innocence and simple faith again. It wasn't until I was in college before I finally felt at peace with my sister's death. Now, I can say that I am extremely blessed to have a sister who is ever aware of my life and who continues to guide me along the journey of my life until I reach the end.

Tender Times

These last five months have been a tender time in my family. I have attended three funerals - one in December, one in April and one in May. It has also brought my family closer together, with more occasions to show each other our love and give each other our support in these difficult, tender times.

I feel somewhat hesitant to write about these experiences because they are private, personal experiences held close to my families hearts. But, I did want to say that there have been three people in my family who have passed from this life. My cousin - Brynn Clausen, my uncle - David Walker and my grandma - Ernestine Cowley. Each person has had there own individual impact on this family and will continue to - as they are each so close to us and forever connected to us.

There is a song that I think of when I think about those I have lost. It is "Lead Kindly Light".  The last verse of this song goes as follows: So long thy pow'r hath blest me, sure it still - will lead me on. O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till - the night is gone. And with the morn those angel faces smile, which I have loved long since, and lost awhile.

I have felt the cold hand of death reach out and take those that I loved from my life and into the next. I say it this way because each time it felt cold and empty. But, I do know that there is more than I can yet see. As the scriptures say, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then shall I know even as also I am known." - 1Cor 13:12    "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."  - 1Cor 2:9

Are You A Citizen?

I joined a genealogy group on Facebook. It is the Chicago Genealogy Group. My grandfather Smith was from Chicago, so I have done a fair amount of research in this part of the world. So, I get emails from members of this group when they post.

So, this week I read a very interesting post by a man. He has a genealogy blog and wrote a post about his grandmother. This is how the story goes... His grandmother was born in Chicago in 1897. Of course, she was a US citizen. But here is where the story goes wrong. His grandmother falls in love with a man born in Canada, who had since moved to Chicago, where the two met. They decide to get married but he had not yet begun the process of obtaining US citizenship. This might not seem like it would pose a problem for the grandmother except for one crazy law. In 1907 there was a federal law put into place that stated that a woman would lose her US citizenship if she married an alien (a non US citizen). CRAZY!

Well, the grandmother was young and in love, so she forfeited her US citizenship and married the alien from Canada in 1918. Her husband ended up becoming a US citizen in 1922. But, not so for the grandmother, she had to wait until 1940 when Congress magnanimously decided that it was time to give these women back their US citizenship. So, in 1940 the grandmother took the US Oath of Allegiance and legally became again a citizen of a country she had always been a citizen of.

Last note, a non-native born woman became a US citizen either when her husband did or when she married a US citizen. This law was in place until 1922.

Edenkoben - The Doll Family

Where have I been? Well, my vacation from my blog all began three weeks ago, when we had Spring Break and I went backpacking with my husband and kids. Then the past two weeks, well, really the past couple of months - I have been in Edenkoben. I have been deeply entrenched in the kirchenbuchs (church books) of Edenkoben, going back in time, as far back as the kirchenbuchs will let me go.

Let me guess - maybe you have not heard of Edenkoben? It is located in the Pfalz area of Germany, in the southwestern part of Germany. It is located on what is called "the weinstrasse" or the wine road. It is found along a section of country where they grow grapes. It is a beautiful area with rolling hills and moderate summer temperatures - only reaching on average in the mid 70's. It reminds me of the Napa Valley with tourists coming to taste of the wine produced by the locally grown grapes.

How did I end up in Edenkoben? It all began several months ago when I made contact with a distant cousin, who lives in Michigan in the summer and Florida in the winter. Sounds like a great weather strategy - the best of both worlds. He is related to me through my dad's side of the family. He and I share a common ancestor named Johann Wilhelm Doll from Edenkoben, Germany. Wilhelm came to America in 1846, when he was 69 years old. This might not seem too remarkable but many people never lived to reach the age of 69. His wife had died 2 years previous in 1844.

Wilhelm and his wife Carolina had a large family of 10 children. Four of their children died as children. Apparently, they were a close family because they all decided to emigrate to America together. At least three of their children were married with children of their own. The children, their spouses, the grandchildren gathered themselves together - made a plan, worked hard, saved money, traveled to the nearest port, obtained the necessary papers and tickets, and finally, boarded "their" ship to America. This was no small venture for the Doll family but in 1846, they eventually arrived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin - their new home.

The lesson I learned with the Doll family is that you must always do your own research. Many years ago, I had found information about the Doll family done by a man from Florida. I copied the information onto my computer and went onto research other family lines that had not yet been touched.

Now, all these years later, after talking with my cousin, I actually took the time to look at the information I had before I sent it to him. I then realized that there was many incomplete families, some misinformation, and so forth. This invigorated me to begin my own research into my families of "the weinstrasse". My journey down the wine road is not yet complete but many new names and faces that have always been apart of my family - now have been brought to my remembrance.

Family Matters

This past week, I was once again reminded of the importance of family. Last week, my uncle David suddenly passed away. My mind went immediately to his four children - my cousins. Our family is the most important thing we have in this life and in the next. Our families welcome us into this life and our families lay us to rest when we leave this life. Families are truly the best!

On the theme that family matters, yesterday the much anticipated 1940 US Census was released with a half of a dozen states available on the first day. More states will be released as the days go on. Apparently, it was much more popular than they thought it would be. It was reported that 1.9 million users began searching the census within the first 4 hours it went online. That translates into 100,000 requests per second for the serves.

This seems amazing considering only a handful of states were available right away. It sounds like a lot of people think that families matter. Most people want to feel connected to at least some part of their family. People don't want to go through this life without any family connection. It seems to go against our very spirits, the purpose of our earthly experience and our eternal destiny.

P.S. - myheritage.com is good for viewing the 1940 census. It is a free site. Also, you can go to stevemorse.org for the ED numbers. The ED numbers help you narrow your search to the people you are looking for. ED stands for enumeration district. It is found at the top of each census page. Towns and neighborhoods were divided into enumeration districts.

The Heavenly Messenger

Each week I think about what story I want to tell. There are so many stories to tell. I usually settle on a few and then I begin to write. But even though all the stories are worthy of being told, if I choose the wrong story to tell - it doesn't work. The words just don't fit together. So, I begin again with the "other" story I was thinking of and it works.

In honor of the upcoming General Conference this week, I wanted to share a spiritual story. The one that came to my mind is about Uncle Bert. Uncle Bert as he was known was actually born Thomas Alberto Huff. He married into the Tuck family when he married Rosa Tuck on 3 April 1918 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Bert had struggled with his spirituality, so as Rosa said, " He wasn't ready for a recommend." So, Bert and Rosa missed the opportunity to be sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. An opportunity Rosa would have appreciated.

But time and the powers of heaven were on Rosa's side. I am sure that many times over the years of their life together that Rosa petitioned Heavenly Father in behalf of her husband - hoping that someday he would find his God and thus find himself worthy to enter His holy temple. As stated in the Book of Enos, "I prayed unto him with many long strugglings...After I had prayed and labored with all diligence, the Lord said unto me: I will grant unto thee according to thy desires because of thy faith.

One morning there was a heavenly messenger waiting for Bert to wake up. As Bert got out of bed and headed to the bathroom he heard a voice that said, "Get your endowments." It was a simple but powerful message meant just for Bert that cut straight to his heart. It was a message that could not be denied.

The heavenly messenger was successful because from that time on Bert began to attend church and his Priesthood meetings. It wasn't long before he qualified himself to be ordained an Elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood. On December 5, 1964, at the age of 80 years old, Bert was now able to walk through the doors of the Idaho Falls Temple and be sealed to his wife Rosa and two of their daughters - Nell and Rosa Lorraine.

As Elder Holland once said in this talk found here  "But I testify that angels are still sent to help us, even as they were sent to help Adam and Eve, to help the prophets, and indeed to help the Savior of the world Himself.

How Grandma Got Her Name

Grandma Ernestine and Great Grandma Ossie

My grandma and I share something in common - we both have unusual names. People don't know what to do with unusual names. They don't roll off the tongue and so people shy away from them. And in my case, my name is also hard for people to spell. But we each were also blessed to have surnames (Smith and Archibald) that are easy to pronounce and easy to spell.

The origins of my grandmother's name date back to the days in Virginia, where her mother Ossie Pearl Tuck was born and raised. Ossie was a Virginia girl through and through. The Tuck family roots run deep in Virginia. By the time Ossie came upon this earthly scene, the Tucks had been living in Virginia for at least 6 generations. That is until ... the Mormon missionaries came to Leesville and happened upon the door of the John William Tuck family.

In describing the scene when the missionaries first arrived at the Tuck home, Rosa Tuck, Ossie's sister, said, "My father never turned a stranger away from his door, so the first time the Elders came, they were taken in with open arms. From the beginning they began to investigate the gospel and felt like it was just what they had been looking for."

So, it was not too long before the Tuck family decided to leave Virginia, the place that they and their ancestors had called home so many years and come west to join with the Mormons. Just before they left Virginia, they moved a 111 miles south to Lynchburg, Virginia.

While in Lynchburg, Ossie and her older sister Rosa took a job working in a bookstore named Brown & Morrison. There they became fast friends with Ernestine Blackburn. They all enjoyed each other's company so well. Rosa and Ossie began teaching Ernestine about the LDS faith. She was very interested and asked many questions. This lead to an even closer friendship between the three, so that upon Rosa and Ossie going west, they announced that whoever had a baby girl first would name their child after Ernestine, their dear friend.

Ossie was the lucky one and her first born was a baby girl. She was a woman of her word and named her daughter Ernestine, a remembrance of her home - Virginia.

Irish - Dublin Coddle

St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner, so...I thought it would be appropriate to post an Irish recipe on my genealogy blog, since I am Irish, you know or maybe don't know. The Smith's come from, you guessed it - Ireland. I also have a few other Irish surnames that may and may not sound so Irish - like Hogan and Carbine. Sorry no tradtional names likes O'Leary or Flanagan.

This morning in the newspaper I saw an article about Dublin Coddle. I had never heard of Dublin Coddle. Maybe you haven't either. It is called coddle because the food is cooked slowly, either on the stove top or in a slow cooker, which ever you prefer. It is a comfort food, something warm and filling.

Here is the recipe I found for it:
If you want to check the website out where I found the recipe go here http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2011/03/dublin-coddle-oh-so-good.html


Dublin Coddle 6-8 Moderate servings

1 lb bacon slices, cubed
2 lbs pork sausage links
2 large onions, thinly sliced
4 large potatoes, peeled, and thickly sliced (about 1/2 inch)
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
6 carrots, peeled and thickly sliced
pepper and salt
4-6 cups of apple cider

1) In a large pot add the bacon and cook over medium heat until the bacon is crispy. Make sure that it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot and cooks evenly by stirring frequently. Using a slotted spoon remove the bacon to a bowl. Pour off most the grease, leaving just enough to grease the bottom of the pan. (Save that grease to fry eggs in, delicious!)
2) Add the sausage links and brown on both sides in the bacon grease over medium-high heat (you may need to do this in two batches). Remove. Add sliced onions and garlic and soften (you can add a little more bacon grease, if needed to prevent sticking). Cook for about 3 minutes. Add the bacon and sausage back in along with the carrots and potatoes. Season with pepper and add enough apple cider to almost cover the mixture. (I used about 4 cups of juice and added just a bit of water to almost cover).
3) Simmer, but don’t boil for 1 1/2 hours, covered. Check seasonings and serve one sausage per person topped with potatoes and carrots and some of the juicy broth. Enjoy!

If you are feeling Irish - try it out!

Granite Mountain Record Vault

Here is a picture of the entrance of the GMRV or the Granite Mountain Record Vault. It is located up beautiful Little Cottonwood Canyon along the Wasatch mountains in Utah. I wanted to do a post on this place because it holds amazing genealogical treasures. It is the big brother to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

The GMRV houses about 2.4 million rolls of microfilm. This number does not include all of the information found in book form. There is estimated to be more than 4 billion original names on these rolls of microfilm. So, this number does not include any duplicate names! Mouth drops open, eyes pop out! I know - there are a lot of people to be found. Now, get ready, this is the kicker. Out of the 2.4 million rolls of microfilm, only 1 million rolls have been checked out! Okay, looks like there is a lot more research to be done. This should give everyone hope. Always, exhaust all possible records. Every record has its own set of information to offer the genealogist.

The LDS Church began acquiring this mass of information in 1938. Since one of the very first directives that Joseph Smith received was to turn our hearts to our fathers, the LDS Church knew that to make this happen for its members - records must be made readily available. So, film crews began the large task of flying around the world to film and collect records that contain information about our forefathers. They are still sending film crews out today. The collection of records is not done.

Now we have arrived at the point where the LDS Church is now scanning all of the 2.4 million rolls of microfilm plus the large book collection it has and putting it all in a digitized format on familysearch.org. The amazing engineers have rebuilt - meaning they have pumped up their scanners to withstand the demanding 13 hours a day, 5 days a week task of scanning. Finally, it is estimated that the scanning will be complete in 7 to 9 years.

So, check out familysearch.org. Last year, the amount of digital images available on familysearch.org - DOUBLED! If you don't find what you need, look again and again.

Women Who Remembered - Olga Marie Adams

This post is about my dad's grandmother Olga Marie Adams. But before I begin - I have to comment on this awesome picture. This is a picture was taken in 1892 of a water tower in the city of Milwaukee. Olga was only 4 years old when it was taken and living in Milwaukee. I just want to know if you have ever seen a more awesome looking water tower? I am saying that I have not and this water tower definitely ranks up there in the beautiful water tower category. I know that you are blow away but most water towers are large, round, short and ugly! The Germans knew how to make things and still do.

My mom met with Olga when she was living in San Francisco in the late 1960's. Olga and her husband Fred Smith had left their Mid-Western roots and moved west to San Francisco on account of their other son (they only had 2 sons - one being my grandpa, William Smith) Fred Smith Jr., who was living in San Francisco.

While my mom met with Olga, she took the opportunity and quizzed Olga on her family history. Who her father and mother were, children, names, dates, etc. Olga came through for my mom. She remembered many things. She also remembered the exact place her father was born in Germany. This might not seem amazing but trust me - I am a genealogist and many children don't know as much about their parents as they think they do. Many children have given misinformation or missing information on a death record.

I have only one picture of Olga. I will have to add it to another post because I don't have it scanned into this computer. My mom describes Olga as a small woman with a strong personality. She sounds like my kind of woman. I think I can relate!? 

Olga helped give me my start in genealogy. She remembered her family, so I have, in turn, been able to find and remember my family as well. Thanks Olga.

Long Lost Cousin-In-Law

Just recently, I have been corresponding with a cousin-in-law. This all happened because of ancestry.com. Ancestry has several ways they try to help long lost relatives connect with each. One way is through prompts that they give you about other people that are ancestry members that are researching the same lines. They do this by tracking the records that a person saves to their family tree. So, I receives these prompts - these bits of information that "so and so" saved "such and such" record to their tree.

Well, I sent an email through ancestry to what turned out to be my cousin-in-law who lives in Kansas. Who knew I have relatives living in Kansas. Turns out - I am related to his wife. His wife is related to the Carbine family from Chicago. My dad's grandfather Fred R. Smith's mother was Mary Carbine. Thus, my connection to the Carbine family. But, of course, we are all rather distantly related.

But, nonetheless, it has been fun to make a connection with a newly found cousin. This is what my blog is about. The hope that I will make connections with my long lost cousins and cousin-in-laws and of course my cousins - my family - that I already know and love. Hope you stay for the journey.

Jilline

How I Got Started: My Mother

When I got married, my mom handed me one of those old style Book of Remembrance. Being a genealogist, of course, I still have it. It is light blue, long and short with a soft cover. In it were stored a handful of family group records. Some hand written and others typed (yes, typed on a type writer). The pages contained names, dates and when done, ordinances. It was my beginning. My starting place.Those very bits of information that my mom had collected and saved.  I don't know if my mom felt inspired to give this to me or she felt that since I was now living in Salt Lake, I might be her only hope in getting something going on my dad's side of the family - the non LDS side of the family. The side ready and waiting!

So, I owe my start in genealogy to my mother. With those bits of information I was able to walk into the Family History Library in Salt Lake and begin what would become my life's work. At the time, I didn't know that genealogy was my life's work but my ancestors knew it and encouraged me and still do. Over the years, my ancestors have waited on me while I have pursed my other life's work - that of a mother. (So far,  I have found two main purposes to my life- my children and my ancestors). The bond I have developed with those ancestors that have waited on me is very strong.

Now, almost 19 years later, I want to thank my mom for giving me my start in genealogy. She encouraged me and I accepted that invitation. As stated in the Doctrine and Covenants: For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul.

Jilline