Crittendan Street, Washington DC

My great-grandparents, Edwin and Carrie Niess once owned a home on Crittendan Street in the District of Columbia. That address is mentioned in a lot of correspondence of Edwin’s and noted on the back of a lot of pictures. I knew the home must have been larger than it looked in the snapshot I found in my library of Edwin’s things, since he was an attorney. This picture is from 1928, and hides a lot of elements that I’m sure were there then.Several years ago, Jim and I took a ride to the area, and tried to find various landmarks associated with my ancestors. We found the Crittendan address and it doesn’t seem to have changed much. Awnings and landscape seem to be the major change visible from the street ~ that and the AC unit sticking out the front window!What really surprises me is how big the interior must have been. I am in the process of redoing my filing system and came across an article that was published in the Washington Post on Sunday, 16 March 1924:

FRIENDSHIP NURSERY AID.
” . . .Mrs. Edwin A. Niess, second vice president, Wednesday afternoon at her residence 1422 Crittendan street, northwest, entertained members of the club and their friends at a 300 and bridge party, at which fifteen tables were occupied.”

Now, I don’t care how large a house is, and this one doesn’t look that large, but 4 people at each of 15 tables equals 60 people, no matter how you do the math!  and 60 for bridge would take up a lot of space,

. . . not to mention all the peanuts you’d have to buy!

 

Santa Baby, Hurry Down the Chimney Tonight!!

Well, Santa, I’ve been challenged!  (In more ways than one, I might add!) But most importantly I’ve been challenged by a little “Saturday Night Genealogy Fun” to sit on your lap (and I’ve never been opposed to that!) and ask you for my “genealogy related desires!”

Well!  Do I have a list for you, Big Boy!  but I’ll pare it down so as not to seem too darn selfish this year!

1.  First and foremost this year, please help me find my very own grandfather!  No, I know where he died, when he died and where he’s buried!  I’ve seen his headstone in Arlington National Cemetery!  I want to know where he was born and what his actual date of birth is!  Who are his parents and is Sherman really our surname?  Dad thought he only lied about his age to join the service, but brother’s DNA indicates that he probably lied about his name, too!  How can we match Zieglers closer than we match any Sherman anywhere?
. . . and, why or why did you have to let his records be included in that batch that burned in St. Louis??  Why, Santa, why?
and #2 is not as important as #1, but important, never the less to me, please give me a little “stick-to-it” desire to finish re-organizing my office. I have the file cabinets, copy machine, copy paper and everything needed, all I need is time, Santa, time!

I do know Santa, that there are others out there who need your gifts much more than I do!  I’m talking about those in Haiti still living in tents, and those servicemen worldwide living away from their families, many in harms way. And don’t forget those in our own country!  Many are still looking for work and in fear of losing their homes.  Look after their wants first, please Santa, and then if there’s anything left over, I’ll take those two little things I talked about!

After all, I’ve been waiting over 20 years to learn about my grandfather’s background and

he took that information to the grave with him!

 

By George I Found Him!

Some people will go to any lengths to get that one little piece of information that they are looking for.  I am one of them.  My husband drove to Stroudsburg, over 200 miles roundtrip, not once but twice, so I could find George H. Auxer’s headstone! But perhaps I should start at the beginning of this story . . .

It seems like I always knew there was a George H. Auxer, but I just didn’t know much about him except he was a daguerreortypist.  Since you “ain’t gonna find anything unless you keep looking” I kept surfing and voila! several years ago, I found a reference to this man in the Dickinson College Archives.  I contacted them and made an appointment to come view their file on the information.  All of this is on  another blog I wrote several years ago.  I’ve picked up a little information here and there since then, but nothing noteworthy UNTIL!

Just in time for Veteran’s Day, Ancestry.com posted a group of records titled “Pennsylvania Veterans Burial Cards, 1777-1999.”  Thinking I knew just about every veteran in my database, I almost didn’t check it out as I considered it a waste of valuable time.  Boy was I wrong!  Boy am I glad I checked out this database!  Lo and behold, there was George H. Auxer and he was buried in Stroudsburg!  What??  Stroudsburg?  The card in the database listed the cemetery, section and plot number, name, birth and death dates, dates of service . . . DATES OF SERVICE???  HE WAS IN THE SERVICE??? This was the first I heard of him in the service!  Well, I had to get up there to take a picture of this headstone!

Trip number one:  I went armed with the form I had copied from Ancestry.com and was sure I’d go right to the spot where George was buried.  The cemetery, however, is not marked with section numbers so I went to the office and spoke to two men who worked there.  They informed me there were no such numbers in their cemetery, nor was there a “south side” as the card indicated!  Furthermore, they mow the cemetery and have never seen that name!  Crestfallen I decided I needed to stop at the Historical Society and see if they have any information.  As luck would have it, we were there on a Monday, the only day they are closed!!  On to the Library, where I did find reference to his obituary, but the reference was to records in the Historical Society!  We had a so-so meal at a lunch place in town and headed home.

Mulling this experience over several things occured to me and the first one was they couldn’t have read the headstone if it wasn’t there!  The card had the name of the Cemetery and the street it was located on, and that’s exactly where we were!  The second thing was that reference to an obituary.  The obituary surely has some information that may be helpful.  I looked for the Historical Society on the internet and found an e-mail address for them and shot off an inquiry, stating my dilemna and what I had done so far.  The Very Next Day! I got a response that she had a copy of the short obituary, and a map and finding aid for the cemetery, please send a check for $1.32.  Well! I don’t write $1.32 checks so I sent a little more and within two days had my answer!

The cemetery has been renumbered since the day when George Auxer was buried in 1867 and she sent a map for that period and one for today.  She also sent a sheet with burials in that area, along with a one line death notice that gave nothing more than the fact that he’d died after a lingering illness and his age.  
Trip Number Two:  Earlier this month we lost a friend whom I had known for almost 50 years.  Our children grew up together and our sons still remain best friends, even though they’re in their 40′s now.  Her funeral was on the 30th of November in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, right off of the I-80.  Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania is right off of the I-80, 75 miles east of Bloomsburg.  Since it was not a special trip to find George’s resting place, I did not feel bad asking Jim to once again take me to Stroudsburg to find George!  The day before the funeral we did just that.  Armed with the information from the Historical Society and with the above map from Mapquest, we once again headed to Stroudsburg to see if the Historical Society was correct or if the Cemetery caretakers were right.

The straight white line that goes down the center of the cemetery is the road from Dreher Avenue that runs through the cemetery.  Superimposing the map from the Historical Society over the above referenced map we found that the section that George should be buried in the that section that is almost square on the upper middle of the cemetery, under the words “Stroudsburg Cemetery.”  While Jim rested, Linda, armed with a camera started her trek through Section E.  Lo and behold, the names on burial sheet from the Historical Society started popping up and my heart started beating a little faster.  As I got to that pine tree in the center of the cemetery, I found George! I put an orange dot on the map where he is resting for eternity.  I wanted to go find the caretakers next, but thought better of it. . .

Comparing the picture at the top of the page with the map and the orange dot and this picture, do you see George’s headstone at the top of the page?  It’s the little rounded one in front of the flag, and it almost gets the shade of the tree.

The next questions to be answered are, what was he doing in Stroudsburg when he had a studio in Hackettstown, New Jersey?  and If he served in the Civil War between 1861 and 1865, why was he checking into a hotel in Philadelphia in 1862?

I think George has a lot more to tell me!

 

“The First Steffy Clan Reunion”

Since I am both a postcard collector and a family historian, I had to buy this postcard, hoping there was a name or two on it that just might connect into my family.  Alas, the only words on the back of it are in the title of this blog.Can you help identify anybody in this picture? It is postally unused, but I believe it came from the Ohio area. I’ve not done much research on this particular line, but was hoping that this would jumpstart it.  Of course, it didn’t.

My Steffys are in Pennsylvania and are as follows:

• Elizabeth AUXER (13 Jul 1785-3 Feb 1870)(and Auxer is the primary line I follow) married Jacob Steffy (abt 1781-1824) on 2 Sep 1800 in the First Reformed Church, Lancaster PA
  • Jacob, born 1801 (must have died early since another Jacob was born 5 years later)
  • Catherine, born 1803
  • Jacob, born 1806
  • George, born 1810
  • William, born 14 March 1812, died 16 Oct 1872 in Lancaster, PA
  • Susan, born 8 Oct 1816, died 24 Feb 1826, buried in Lancaster Cemetery, Lancaster, PA
  • Abraham, born 19 April 1820
  • John Frederic, born 9 April 1823, died 11 April 1824, buried in Lancaster Cemetery, Lancaster PA

 

She Left Her Forgiveness

I’ve been reorganizing my files and came across one of my favorite wills and thought I’d share it. I have left off the names since it’s less than 75 years old.

E—- L—-, also known as

E—- L—-, also known as                                                             Died: —, –, 195-

E—- L                                                                                               ******WILL*******

Wed. —- , 30, 195-.

I wish to explain how I want my wordly possessions to be divided.

To my husband J—- —-, Jr my bank account in the Lancaster County Bank. Also the house hold furniture to do as he pleases.

To my sons – J—- I—- and W—- L— – and my daughter P—- H— my bank account in the F— Bank to be divided equally between these 4 children

My daughter F—- who I do not know if she is alive or not I leave her my forgiveness for all the heart ache she has caused me. I think $10 would satisfy her to be taken from my account at the F– Bank.

I would like my daughter P—- to have my big Ring -

Thats all I guess

 

E—- L. L—-

 

It’s a jewel, isn’t it?

 

 

Louise Kleiss, NYC; Louisa Kleiss Zecher, Lancaster, PA ~ 15 years apart

As many of you know, I am a Kleiss researcher.  My ancestor, Philip Kleiss was a Tavern keeper in Lancaster in the late 1700′s.  After his death his sons ran the Tavern located on the corner of Vine and Queen Streets in the heart of Lancaster.  Today the Tavern is incorporated in the Convention Center, but that is on another blog.  This blog is about the two women referenced above.

I periodically put my surnames in search engines and tonight I was playing around with Genealogy Bank, one of my favorite sites.  I’ve got a lot of information from the old newspapers on this site and an a big fan of it! When I found the following article, I thought it sounded familiar ~

New York Herald
26 December 1895

KILLED BY A MOTOR.
—–
Mrs. Louise Kleiss Struck While Walking
On the North Hudson County
Railway’s Tracks.
—–

Mrs. Louise Kleiss, forty-five years old, of No 27 King street, West New York, was struck by a motor of the North Hudson County Railway Company early yesterday morning and instantly killed.
Mrs. Kleiss came to Jersey City Tuesday evening to make some purchases and took the midnight boat back on the Forty-second street ferry. She had a number of bundles and started to walk home up the company’s tracks on the old Fort Lee road. When between Niles avenue and Twenty-third street, motor No. 191 came up behind her at a rapid rate and striking her hurled her to one side of the track. So rapidly was the car going that it ran three hundred feet before the motorman could stop it.
When the trolley men picked her up she was dead. The body, which was not cut, but badly bruised, was brought to Hoboken where it was identified yesterday morning by the woman’s husband. The woman left a daughter, besides her husband.

As I read this it rang a bell.  I knew I had a Louise Kleiss who had died the same way, and thought perhaps the information was wrong and this one really died in Lancaster.  So I went to the books, my Kleiss books that is, and found what I remembered.  Several differences though:

• My Kleiss was born as Louisa Kleiss, but married a Zecher
• My Louisa Kleiss Zecher died exactly 15 years and 10 days after Mrs. Louise Kleiss
• and of course, my Louisa Kleiss Zecher died in Pennsylvania, not New Jersey.

The similiarites are:

• Their names
• The month of the year they were killed
• The way they were killed
• and they both had been shopping!

Lancaster, Pennsylvania
15 December 1920

TRAIN KILLS WOMAN
RETURNING TO HOME
FROM MARKETHOUSE
—–
Mrs. David Zecher Meets Instant
Death When Hit by Express
at Crossing
—–
WALKED UNDER GATE
DIRECTLY INTO TRAIN
—–
Body Severed But Glasses Stay
on Nose When Searchers
Find Upper Portion
—–
IDENTIFICATION IS SLOW
—–
Eight Mistakes Cause Alarm in
Homes — Son Passed Soon
After Accident
—–—–

Killed by a west bound express train at Prince and Walnut streets last night while on her way home from the evening market at the Northern Market House the body of an aged woman cut in half under the wheels of the train at 5:33 o’clock was not identified as Mrs. David Zecher, aged 72, of 239 Elm street, until near 10 o’clock by her son. In the meantime eight false identifications were made and much anxiety was caused among relatives of per (sic) victim.
The train which struck the aged woman was No. 639, bound for Altoona, the accident occurring within a minute of the time the train had left the station.
Mrs. Zecher’s son, Charles J., 328 Pine street, passed the scene of the accident a few minutes after it had happened while on his way home from work, but did not stop to mingle with the curious crowd that had gathered round the crossing. Had he done so identification of the dead woman would have perhaps been immediate. As it happened the body laid for a time in the freight station near the crossing and later at Fisher’s undertaking establishment until 1o o’clock last night where the son finally was brought to identify his mother. In the meantime efforts on the part of the railroad officials to identify the woman resulted in eight false identifcations before the truth was known.
Witnesses to the accident stated that Mrs.

 

Mother’s 90th Birthday Celebration, part two

With cards and supplies for Mother’s party shipped to California, it was time for us to follow them!  We left Philly mid-morning on Sunday and arrived around 6PM in Ontario, California to a greeting via the pilot “welcoming Blaine’s father back home!”  Yup, our son was on duty at the Tower and had been the controller guiding our plane to it’s gate.  Perfect start to our two week stay in Southern California!  Blaine came to see us at our hotel when he got off work and we made arrangements to visit the family the next day to go over plans for the following Sunday.  Thanksgiving interferred with doing anything during the week since we were heading to Tehachapi to spend time with Paige and her family.  But that’s already on another blog!

Naturally, we didn’t do too much on Monday, since there was a 4 year old anxious to play with Pa and Grandma, and we felt that was more important.  The most important thing we taught our grandson was how to write his name in dust!  My mother had sent a set of nesting tables and we were going to transport them to Tehachapi.  They had been in the garage for quite a while and we found the dustiest one to teach Ellis how to do this. Being a grandparent is fun!!

Our chores would begin on Saturday, with the filing of cake boxes, and figuring out the logistics of transporting everything from Riverside to Lake Forest.  On Saturday our assembly line was in full swing.  Ellis was, of course, a big help and really enjoyed helping.  He’d count cookies and put cookies, confetti and a package of macadamia nuts in each container, just like Mommy and Grandma did.  We filled 70 of these since it took 10 to make a cake and we had seven tables.

It was decided that Jim and Linda would meet Blaine and Elaine at the home around noon.  They would take the “cake pieces” and drive to El Segundo to pick up the cake.  Since the icing was whipped cream, it would need to be refrigerated immediately and J and L would arrange for that in the cafeteria.

We went to the arranged meeting place made the arrangements and set up the tents that had been made for “Guest Book” and “Cards” to fit over the basket we had purchased for the cards.  Everything was right on schedule.  Their car was unloaded and we started to set up the tables. Freedom Village furnished the tables, chairs and burgundy table cloths. We furnished the personality.

Each table looked the same, with a cake, two balloons and one or two sets of trivia cards.  A special table was set aside for the cake and two vases of flowers flown in from Hawaii for the event.  Mother’s sister, Pat lives in Kona and sent the flowers as a gift for mother and the occasion.  Elaine had arranged the table beautifully, but one guest seemed to think the antheriums and orchids should be switched and walked up to the table and without asking, just switched them!

Guests started arriving and Ellis and Daphne got to meet for the first time!  Ellis and Daphne are 2nd cousins and are 5 months apart in age.  Ellis was born in July, Daphne will be 4 in December.  They were the entertainment for the day, dancing, making “snow angels” on the floor and doing everything 4 year olds love to do!

Since Daphne was wearing her “party dress,” Ellis had on his “party shirt.”  Hallie asked Ellis where he got his “party shirt,” and he matter-of-factly answered “at the Party Shirt store!.”  Well, Duh!

Although we had planned for 7 tables, in reality there were only 6.  I labeled them by who sat at them.  The one shown above is the “Cousins Table.”  Blaine and Elaine with Ellis, Cherrie (Bud’s wife), April (Bud’s daughter) and her husband Matt with Daphne.  Bud  and Cherrie actually sat at the “Head Table.”  Cherrie was “just visiting” in this picture.

The next picture is what I termed “The Family Table.”  Dan, Paige, Hallie and her boyfriend Peter, sat at this table along with my cousin, Jack and his wife Gale.  Jim joined this table.

Moving to the next table is the “Fallbrook Table.”  These were friends of Mother’s and Paul’s from Fallbrook United Methodist Church.  One of the couple had an exchange student from the Philippines and Mother was delighted to meet her since Mother had spent several years in the Philippines.

A few new friends of Mother’s from Freedom Village made up the next table.  They were delightful people and I could see why Mother chose to have them invited.

The last table were all nephews and nieces of Paul’s.  The only exception was Paul’s daughter and her husband who joined this table.

Bud, being the eldest, and whom I used to call, Heir apparent to the Throne, was appointed to be the Master of Ceremonies.  He arose, gave a little speech about Mother and then each of the three of us got up and told a special memory of our Mother.  Mother seemed to enjoy being the center of attention and remembered each one of our tales!

It was finally time to watch the Birthday Gal blow out her candles and more importantly, taste that cake!!  The cake had three layers, guava, strawberry and mango, with fresh fruits on top ~ mango, kiwi and strawberries on a whipped creamed frosting.  It was light and absolutely delicious!!!  This cake topped off the Hawaiian Theme to a T without being tacky hula skirt, coconut shell  Hawaiian!

Ellis and Daphne, well aware of birthdays, were eagerly awaiting the candle lighting ceremony so they could get their piece of the birthday cake.  Blaine could not light them fast enough for them!

The blog would not be complete without a picture of Mother and her three children.  Bud is the oldest and in the middle, Priscilla, the youngest and on the right.

Does it look like I am upset?  Everyone of the family group pictures has the same look on my face.  Reason?  While the pictures were being taken I was watching several people load up all of the unattended centerpieces and walking out with them.  One person had at least FIFTEEN little cake slice boxes, so many that she had to take one of the round disks we had bought to balance them on!  Made me wonder if she would have done that had the party been in my home!!  There were several people loading them for her!  I was appalled!

I guess no party gets by without a glitch, and if this was the only glitch at least it wasn’t by our hand!  Since I’ve received several thank you notes and phone calls since I’ve arrived home, I would term this a success!  The most important thing after all was Mother, and she was teary, happy and appreciative.

Happy 90th Birthday, Mother!  What do the next 90 hold for you??

 

Why I’ve Been a Fan of the Yankees

in 1955 the New York Yankees took a six week tour playing exhibition games in Hawaii, Guam and Japan. Any of my readers remember that? or ever heard of it? Probably not. I have never forgotten it.

I was 12 years old and lived on Guam. We looked forward to this game and seeing the World Famous New York Yankees. They played the “Guam Caballeros” and you can guess who won.  That team was full of names we are all familar with today, Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra among them.  Also on the team was Don Larsen who went on to pitch the only perfect game and the only no-hitter in the World Series the following year.  Game 5 of the World Series against The Boys from Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Dodgers, on October 8, 1956 earned him the MVP of the World Series that year.

Just knowing that would have made them my favorite team, but there is more to the story then just that. You see, after the game, the Yankees remained on the field to shake hands and autograph programs or anything else in our hands. I only got one autograph on my ticket, and it was none other than Don Larsen’s! I still have that ticket. It ranks right up there in the top ten of my prize possessions from my childhood today!  and as Paul Harvey would have said . . .

now you know the rest of the story!

 

Family Reunions?

The word “Family” can be either all encompassing as in all your relatives that share the same surname and same set of ancestors, or it can mean the family unit which nurtured you, the people you shared a home with.

I was born and raised overseas.  My father was a Civil Service employee and his employment took him from Hawaii, to Guam and eventually the Philippines.  Because of this, I never met a cousin until I was in my teens.  I had read about them, knew I had them, but had no idea who they really were!  . . . and to think my parents had brothers and sisters?  What a concept!  I did know my grandparents on my mother’s side since they lived in Hawaii and we would visit with them frequently.  This was family in my formulative years; the people who all came together at the end of the day, my parents, brother and sister.  The picture below was taken on Guam about 1955.In 1982 we all got together for Easter at my home in Southern California.  We had all aged, but Dad seemed to be the only one who looked distinguished with the greying hair.
Easter seemed to be when we had the Gathering of the Clan (we never thought of the word Reunion) and this one found us gathering at my parents place in Fallbrook, California.  We have all “matured” but are definitely enjoying the hands that have been dealt us.  

In 1956 we left Guam and settled in California. My parents had decided it was time for the children to get the benefit of all “The States” had to offer, and that included a good education and family!  It was a whirlwind of relatives tour!  I met four aunts, four uncles and seven cousins!!   And one of them was my age!  How overwhelming!  We all had something in common!  We shared grandparents!!

In the years that followed we’d get together for holidays, weekends and on vacations, yet there was never really a family reunion.  The closest thing to a family reunion would have been my grandparents 50th anniversary celebration.  I was married by that time, as were my siblings and many of my cousins.  Aunts and Uncles were there, with the exception of one who lived on the East Coast, but many cousins had lives of their own and did not attend.  The cousins that did attend I could probably count on one hand.  

Our family scattered as we married and started our own families.  We would get together at holidays in my parents home, and cousins would play and interact.  We made sure our children knew their cousins and it was fun watching the next generation getting to know each other.  My brother had four children, I had two, and my sister became the favorite aunt when each niece or nephew was born.  In 1972 the family gathered at my parents’ home and a picture of the cousins recorded the event.  Pictured above, left to right are my brother’s son and daughter, Jeffrey and April, my son, Blaine, my brother’s son and daughter, Brad and Kim and my daughter, Paige.

The closest our family has ever come to a family reunion was in 2008.  As a surprise for Mother on Mother’s Day, we had a mini-family reunion at my brother’s home in California.  She had no idea that I would fly in from Pennsylvania or that my daughter and granddaughter would drive from Central California for the ocassion.  Two cousins were unable to be present, but after many, many years, my daughter and three of her cousins were able to reunite and share laughs and stories of their childhood.  It was a day to remember for years to come.

In the picture above are Paige  is kneeling in the front in the blue dress, April is on the right with her arms around Kim’s son, Kim is standing next to April, and Brad has his hand on his chest next to Kim.  Mother is almost 90 and is in the black, my brother Bud, is on the left with his arm around his wife, and I am kneeling in the front by Paige and her daughter.  Missing are my sister, Priscilla, my son Blaine and Bud’s son, Jeff.

Although we missed Priss, Blaine and Jeff, the one we all probably missed the most is Dad who joined his parents in glory in September of 1990.

 

Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way . . .

The word “WILL,” as defined by Dictionary.com
As a verb:

• to give or dispose of (property) by a will or testament, bequeath or devise.
• to influence by exerting power
• to wish, desire or like

and as a noun:

• the act or process of using or asserting one’s choice; volition
• a legal declaration of a person’s wishes as to the disposition of his or her property or estate after death, usually written and signed by the testator and attested by witnesses and
• the document containing such a declaration.

For centuries our ancestors have written their wills to make sure their families are cared for upon their demise.  Some have had specific instructions as to exactly who and who may not benefit from their personal estate and sometimes listed a reason.  In the following examples, the word WILL is both parts of speech, the verb being used as retaliation in several instances!

My ancestor, Philip Kleiss, for example, stated in his will dated 7 October 1797:

ITEM: I give unto my daughter Philippina the wife of George Brungart one shilling sterling money in full for her share of in to and out of my Estate real and personal, and this I do on account of her disobedience towards me.  BUT nevertheless if my said daughter Philippina should become a widow and not able to support herself, THEN it is my Will that my said first mentioned seven Childlren shall be subject to pay unto her yearly the sum of Eighteen pounds specie money aforesaid that is to say, each of them one equal seventh part  thereof during her Widowhood, out of the money & Estate herein to them given, but if my said daughter Philippina should marry again then the said yearly payent shall cease and no longer paid.

Philippina had married a man of a different faith against her father’s wishes.  This was Philip Kleiss, the tavern keeper who had a nine page inventory, not including the 2 full pages of items left to the family!  Philippina got one shilling from the estate.

In a will dated 21 March 1787 written by Maria Barbara Auxer, my 6th great grandmother, her specific wishes were to exclude all of her children except for one.

. . . I, Maria Barbara Auxer, of the Borough of Lancaster in the County of Lancaster and State of Pennsylvania, Spinster, for and in consideration of the good services and attendance done to me in my lifetime, by my son, Christopher Auxer . . . do by these presents give over and bequeath unto him, my said son, Christopher Auxer all my personal estate, monies, bonds, goods, clothes and bedding whatsover to him, his heirs and assigns forever.  . . . and I do hereby by these presents disinherit my other children, Anna Maria, and Elizabeth and Michael Auxer, from all land singular all rights and herediments to my estate herein forever and my said son, Christopher Auxer, shall receive all monies, bonds, clothese and bedding after my decease, and no sooner, to his own purposes, use and behoof.

Her son, Michael and her daughter, Elizabeth were both my ancestors.  What??  Yup!  Elizabeth was the wife of the aforementioned Philip Kleiss.  Her daughter, Catharine married Michael’s son, Michael, Jr.

In Jacob H. Redsecker’s will, he leaves his entire estate to his aunt, Martha J. Ross and his sister, Sarah A. Greenawalt, with the exception of $200 to the cemetery his father is buried in, and the grandfather clock to his brother, Abraham.  Yet, according to the Lebanon Daily News, Friday, April 23, 1909, page 1, column 1:

. . . Out of respect of the wish of the deceased there was no public viewing of the body and during the service the coffin was closed.  . . . It was the wish of the deceased that there should be no eulogy and that there should be no women at the burial.  Both wishes were respected.

Jacob and I are distantly related.  He died a life-long bachelor at the age of 70 and left everything to women and yet he didn’t want them at the burial??

Every once in awhile, as I look for an obituary I run across an interesting article.  Such was the case recently when I found the following on one of my favorite sites, Genealogy Bank. It was in the Pawtucket Times, 10 February 1921.

John Werner, who died at his home on Lowell st.,  Aug. 20, 1820, left three sons and four daughters.  His will, exectuted July 19, 1920, just filed in this city, is remarkable on account of the specific provisions for distribution of his estate.

One daughter is named “to receive $1 to purchase a rope to hang herself with.” The grievance against her alleged is “that she caused the arrest of her father for the sake of a worthless husband and is not worth any more.”

Another daughter named is to receive $1.  She is alleged to have caused him “lots of trouble by associating with married and single men; also that on the death of her mother, she went on a joy ride with a man; also that she refused to contribute any money toward payment of funeral expenses of her mother.”

A son named is to to receive a specified sum, provided he remain a Protestant.

And the last instance of  a strange request was found in the Lancaster County Intelligencer, 14 November 1903:

The will of Joseph Doutot, who died at New Orleans Thursday was filed Friday.  He leaves his property to the undertaker who is to bury him, and provides for a handsome funeral with an adequate number of carriages, but stipulates that no one shall be allowed to see his face after death or be present at his funderal.  The carriages are to accompany the body to the grave, but must be empty.

Don’t you wonder what frame of mind some of these people were in when they wrote their

LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT?