Final resting spots. . . . . .

I guess final resting spots could be new discoveries, couldn’t they? . . . . . well, to me they are, not to those interred therein!

First discovery? The Trost family. Who??? George (bad boy) Auxer’s only daughter and her family. Why had I never found them before this? Well, I’ve assumed (wrongly) that if you were an Auxer descendant and lived in Lancaster, you must either be of the Reformed faith or a Lutheran! A Catholic? Never! Boy was I wrong!

. . . . and being Catholic, where do you think they are buried? Well, the Catholic Cemetery, of course, right in the heart of Lancaster, right next to the huge Lancaster Cemetery where I thought they should be buried!!! And isn’t it a magnificent monument??

The odd thing about this is, I was looking for her mother’s headstone and found her’s! Her mother, according to records, is supposed to be buried in Woodward Hill Cemetery. I found her obituary (Catharine Auxer’s) and it said she was buried there. Well! After searching the records, I found an entry where “Susan Frost and George Auxer” were purchasers of a particular site. In the pouring rain, with winds high enough to turn my umbrella inside out, I went searching for the headstones in the referenced site. I found people who were supposed to be buried in adjacent sites, but no Auxer, no Frost, no Trost. . . . . . and why would George purchase a site for Catharine, when he died in California in 1880 and Catharine died in 1909???? He didn’t even care about her enough to come and see her in Lancaster after he left town years before! Another mystery in the Auxer legacy. . . .

Now on to the Leader clan! I’m still trying to trace my 6th great grandfather’s brothers and sisters! Oh! and step-brothers and sisters! Samuel had 8 brothers and sisters and 6 step-brothers and sisters. He had at the very least, 40 nephews and nieces. . . . . and those are just the ones I have found. I would venture to say there are at least 25 more! Tracing the Leader line has been fun! Try putting “Leader” into a search engine ~ guess what you’ll get!! Thousands upon thousands of hits, and maybe, just maybe 1%of them might apply to the surname “Leader!”

Anyway, enough of the ranting, after all, we’re talking about headstones, today, and I finally took the time to drive out to Mt. Joy and photograph Samuel’s step-brother, Joshua’s headstone. His headstone includes his wife, Agnes and his daughter Isabella (Bella.) Since it is relatively new, I’m assuming it was erected upon Bella’s death in 1933.

The headstone below does NOT belong in our family line. I just found it fascinating and had to photograph it. It is in the Catholic Cemetery in Lancaster, at the opposite end of the row that the Trost family can be found in. It must have been awesome when it was new. I think it is beautiful in an eerie sort of way ~

 

Finishing off the week with a few new tidbits. .

This has been a full week for Linda as far as my genealogy research goes.

Since I’m getting ready for a trip to Washington DC, I want to make sure I’m fully prepared and I’m therefore devoting a lot of time to my research. It would be awesome if I could discover new tidbits each day, but that is not realistic. . . . desirable, but not realistic!
On Thursday I found one new person, a birthdate and full name on another and a death date on a third person, as follows:

Born 6 May 1872, Baptised 27 Dec 1872
Mary Catharine McGinnis, dau. of George W. McGinnis and his wife Sophia born Chambers, was baptized at the parents dwelling. Sponsor – the grandmother, Mrs. Catherine McGinnis. By D. Bigler.
Continuing in those same Church records I’ve added a new member of the family. I did not have her in my database.

Born 18 Oct 1827, Baptised 1 June 1828
Sarah Elisabeth Milchsack, daughter of Matthaeus Milchsack, machine worker, and wife Charlotte born Biegi. (They were from Paradise). The parents were the sponsors. Baptised by John G. Herman, P.L.
We now have a full name and birthdate for her (wife of Jacob Axer)

7 Jan 1918
Mrs. Frank A. Auxer
Mrs. Irene S. Auxer, wife of Frank A. Auxer, died at 6:30 o’clock this morning at her home, No. 240 East Lemon street, after an illness of many weeks, following rheumatism. She was in her 41st year and was born in Middletown. Her parents were Israel B. and Annie E. Miller Bair. She has been married 22 years and for 14 years resided in Millersville before coming to this city last November. She was a member of Advent Lutheran church. She is survived by her husband and the following children, Charles E., at Royersford, Pa.; Margarita V., Franklin A., Arthur J., Anna E., and William L., all at home, her parents at Springfield, N.J., one brother in New Jersey, and two sisters in New York.
The funeral will be held from her late home on Saturday afternoon at 2 o’clock,with private interment at Lancaster cemetery.
We did not have a death date for her. We did have a year, but not the full date.

Now for the really, really big discovery this week. George Auxer , son of Jacob Axer, husband of Catharine Buckius, run-away to California died there. I just didn’t know exactly when. Now I do! On 8 November 1880, the following article appeared in the Lancaster New Era:

A Wanderer’s Death.

On October 16, 1857, George Auxer, a resident of this city, bid his family farewell and left for the West. After wandering through several of the Western States he turned up in California. An occasional letter was received from him but he never again visited his family in this city. Some few years ago, his sister died and he was entitled to a share in her estate. After it was settled up his share was forwarded to him. A day or two after he received it word was sent to this city that he died in California on October 16, 1880, just 23 years to the day from the time he left this city.

Thus closes another week. A week full of discoveries, some of them big, some of them small. All adding a little more to my family tree.

I wonder what next week holds? . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

Let’s get started on a few updates

The primary purpose of this blog is to update my genealogy as new information jumps out at me! Since I am spending more and more time researching in Lancaster, more information on the Lancaster lines will appear here than others. The Axer/Auxer, Kleiss and Leader families are my lines with the primary ties to Lancaster.

This week I went thru (hastily, I might add!) some Church records previously overlooked, and found several entries that pertain to our Auxers and at least one that pertained to the Kleiss family ~ although sorting out those Kleiss’ with the same first name has become a real chore!

These are the corrections, with my comments in red.  As always, if you want the source and to document it, simply contact me and I will provide you with the information.  If you only collect names, at least reference me as your source . . . . .please.

• Charles Edward Albright, son of Frederic Albright and Sarah born Axer, born Oct. 17, 1846 – aged 8 yrs, 9 months and 8 days. Buried on Woodward Cemetery.

• Charles Edward Albright, son of Frederic A. Albright and wife Susan (sic) born Axer. Sponsors – Mary Ann Hentsch born Evans and Catherine McGinnis. Born: Oct. 17, 1846 Baptised: May 20, 1847

• December 18, 1836 marriage – John, Axer, son of Jacob and Sarah Axer to Anna Maria Ferree, dau. of Philip and Dorothea Ferre.

This differs drastically from the info rec’d elsewhere. I could never figure out why there were 2 John Axers’ in MD and both were married to somebody named Rosanna!! I do know that our John Axer was in Baltimore in 1846. He died in 1879 and his widow and daughter can be found in Philadelphia after that point.

• Aug. 3, 1845 marriage -Frederic Anthony Albright, son of Anthony Albright, deceased, and wife Susan born Seib, to Sarah Axer, dau. of Jacob Axer, deceased, and wife Susan born Ward, both of Lancaster.

• Walter Franklin Albright, son of Frederic A. Albright and wife Susan (sic) born Axer. Sponsors – Susan Albright and the parents. Born: Oct. 14, 1851 Baptised: Nov 14, 1852

• Sarah Catherine Albright, dau. of Frederic A. Albright and wife Susan (sic) born Axer. Sponsors – the parents, Br. Samuel Beam and the grandmother Albright. Baptised: Jul 8, 1855

• 1868, Died Jan 26, Buried Jan 29 – Clara Elizabeth Auxer, only daughter of the widow Sarah Auxer, born Milchsack, departed this life after a few days illness. Age 18 years and 10 months. The parents were not member of the church, but the child was a scholar in our Sunday School. Remains interred in Lancaster Cemetery.

• 1869 Died Dec 1, Buried Dec 5 – Andrew Clayton McGinnis, infant son of George W. McGinnis, and his wife Sophia born Chambers, died of scarlet fever at Carlisle, Pa. The remains were brought here and interred in the Lancaster Cemetery. Funeral services held at the home of the grandparents McGinnis, aged 1 yr and 7 mos. By D. Bigler, assisted by Rev. Wm. Nivin of the Reformed Church.

Information previously obtained said he died in Lancaster. Evidently, not so.

• May 30, 1847, Marriage -Henry Burkins (Buckius) son of William Burkins, and wife Augusta born Weiss, to Mary Vehrer, dau. of George Vehrer and wife Elisabeth born Kline, deceased of Lancaster.

This would be the brother of Susan Axer who married George, the son of Jacob Axer.

• Feb. 8, 1871, Marriage -John Myer, widower, was married to Sarah Axer, widow – both of Lancaster. Ceremony at parsonage.

Widow of Jacob Axer, mother of Sarah Elizabeth above? Time frame fits.

• Marriage, Sept. 23, 1847 -John Hanson, son of George Hanson, and wife Mary Magdalena born Devault, both deceased, to Susan Axer, dau. of George Axer and wife Mary born Doland, deceased, all of Millerstown, Lancaster Co.

??????? I think Millerstown (Millerstown is in Perry County!) really means Millersville, and I think this is the George who was the father of the “Poor Children,” since he lived in that area and had a daughter, Susan/Susanna who would be marriageable age in 1847. Mary Doland may very well be the Polly Dalin that has appeared in other Church records, since Polly is a nickname for Mary ~ Think about it!

• Marriage, May 24, 1827 -George Doebler, widower, from Conestoga Twp., and Susanna, Warrick.

Was this the George Doebler who married Anna Maria Auxer? Did she die before 1827??? More research to do on this one!

• Marriage, Sept. 14, 1836 – Ferdinand Gerber, son of John and Rachel Gerber, to Rebecca Kleiss, dau. of John and Margaret Kleiss, both of Lancaster.

Which John was married to Margaret? Love those Kleiss boys!

Back to the drawing board! Next week I’ll spend more time in this set of records. Doesn’t the database keep changing? So many things we’ve taken for Gospel truth has become fiction the more research we do! Lesson learned? Seek your own documentation or ask to see somebody else’s!