I Read it on the Internet! It Must be True!

Don’t you love to hear that expression? “I know it’s true, I read it on the internet.”  Thank goodness for Snopes.com! We can check all of those rumors that circulate today. Back on September 10, 1914 there was no place to check when you read the newspaper. Did you take it for granted that what you read was true and pass on the information? or did you verify any of it at all?

Last night I found a newspaper article about my grandparents upcoming wedding in an online newspaper.  The Harrisburg Patriot published the following three sentences on the society page of the September 10, 1914 issue -

Invitations have been received in this city for the marriage of Miss Nellie Niess and Robert Sherman, both of Washington, D.C., which will take place on September 16, in the Congregational church in Washington. Miss Niess is a graddaughter of Jeremiah Carvell, a former pastor of the Fourth street Church of God, also a granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. B.F, Niess, 117 Dock street, and has frequently visited her relativges (sic) here. Mr. Sherman is a grandson of the late General Sherman.

Just three sentences and each one of them has a major error in it!

• Sentence Number 1: The grooms name. Every piece of paper I have ever seen (including that Wedding Invitation, of which I have one!) states that the groom was William F. Sherman, not Robert. My very own father was William F. Sherman, Jr.!
• Sentence Number 2: Grandparents. The bride’s grandparents were Mr. and Mrs. Ephraim H. Niess, not Mr. and Mrs. B.F. Niess. Her uncle was B.F. Niess! B.F. for Benjamin Franklin
• And Sentence Number 3: As anyone who has studied Civil War history, and that of General William Tecumseh Sherman can tell you, he had no grandchildren with the Sherman surname! I know of one son who died young, one son who was a Catholic Priest (and if he was our relative, we certainly wouldn’t be carrying the Sherman name, now would we?) and supposedly another son who died a bachelor in another part of the country.

In actuality, after more than 25 years of researching, I am no closer to discovering who my great-grandparents were on my grandfather’s side than I was when I started. My grandfather was less than honest about his background (or much else, it appears) and I would be surprised if Sherman was actually the name he received at birth. My father went to his grave confused about his father’s background and my brother’s DNA does not match anyone, or even come close to anyone carrying the Sherman surname!

I keep hoping I’ll find the answer . . . where else, but ON THE INTERNET!

 

Moving Up in Washington DC, 1890 – 1948

When my father died in 1990 I inherited a ragtag collection of photographs, letters and Bibles. They were all from his Grandfather, my Great-Grandfather, Edwin Alfonso Niess. Among this collection are a few  pictures of homes the family lived in during the Washington D.C. stage of their lives.

In November of 1889, Edwin moved from Harrisburg, the city of his birth, to Washington D.C. He had just completed 4 years of schooling at what is now Millersville State University and passed the Clerk’s examination for the Federal Government in August. In November he was hired to work in the War Department at a grand salary of $1,000 a year. Edwin went back to Harrisburg the following September to marry my Great-Grandmother, Carrie Virginia Carvell. They left Harrisburg right after the wedding, taking the train back to the District to set up housekeeping at 822 I Street N.E.  By 1897 they had moved from the I Street home to 1113 C Street N.E. The picture below was taken that year. They didn’t remain in that house long since the 1900 census shows the family living at 239 10th St.Edwin worked, belonged to all the right organizations and went to Law School at Columbian Universtity(now George Washington University) earning a LL.B in 1895 and a LL.M in 1896. Working for the War Department he kept getting promotions and in 1900 transferred to the Post Office Department as a Postal Inspector. By 1905 he was a Law Clerk and 2 years later the Niess family found the house to raise their family in. A proper house for an up and coming attorney in Washington D.C. society.This picture was one of the pictures that was torn from a photo album at one point. It is glued on the page with a picture of my great-great-grandparents glued to the other side of the page! The date at the top of the picture seems to indicate August 2, 1907. Keep that date in mind.Another picture, in not so primo condition, shows the front stairs and elements of the Rhode Island Avenue home. The older boy would have been my grandmother’s brother, Edwin M., who had joined the Army and my father standing next to him. I show this picture so you can compare the elements with the picture taken on Christmas Day, 2011. Black handrails, porch, and detail around the front door.It’s a beautiful home today, isn’t it? It should be since Zillow.com estimates it’s value at $747,200!!! It also states that it was built in 1909, a date we now know is not accurate.The only structural change I noticed is the deletion of the rail on the balcony and the addition of a gate and iron bars around the windows and front door. This home, however, was not the last home the Niess’ would purchase.

By  1924 the couple, since that’s what they were again, had downsized and moved north, close to Rock Creek Park. 1422 Crittenden NW is a slightly smaller home with 1960 square feet and only 4 bedrooms. Once again, Zillow’s estimate of the property value would probably make the Niess couple faint! $556,000! I’m sure if this home were in their hometown of Harrisburg, you could lop off at least 400K from that figure! Several years ago we drove past this home and unlike the home on Rhode Island Avenue, this one has changed. The awnings, shrubbery and rock along the sidewalk; all different. This is the home that Edwin and Carrie lived until Carrie died in 1933. Almost two years later, Edwin remarried, and outlived his 2nd wife. Edwin died 18 April 1948 in his home on Crittenden.
Edwin’s final move was to Warrenton, Virginia where he is buried with his 2nd wife, the sister of Edwin M.’s wife, Lucy Kelly Niess. Father, Son and both wives are buried in the Kelly Family Plot. Carrie is buried in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania in the plot with her father, Rev. Jeremiah Mark Carvell, and her daughter, my grandmother, Nellie Viola Niess Sherman.

We visit both cemeteries as we get a chance.

 

The Susquehanna Overflows it’s Banks ~ 2011 vs 1889

It’s a bad flood. Central Pennsylvania was hit hard. The rain didn’t stop and it wasn’t just rain, it was a torrential rain! Estimates are over 12″ of rain with river banks overflowing and basements flooded. Twenty seven feet above flood stage!  Some are comparing it with the 1889 flood, a record that may be broken by the current flood. Boy we have it bad!

. . . or do we?

Several years ago, I had the pleasure of transcribing my great-great grandmother’s diary. It covered just a few years, and 1889 was one of them.

Ephraim and Catharine Auxer Niess lived at 117 Dock Street in Harrisburg. Ephraim could walk to work at Bailey Iron Works and the Susquehanna River was their neighbor. The area today is known as Shipoke, and a trendy neighborhood. It was a working class neighborhood at that time. Today there is no longer a Dock Street. Dock Street is now the Dock Street Bridge and their home was razed for that bridge. As you travel west on I 83, crossing the Susquehanna, you travel over the area where Catharine once had her garden and  Ephraim and Catharine raised their family.

You have the background, now I’ll give you Catharine’s view of the 1889 flood from her diary. Any of my comments will be in italics. Everything I write will be Catharine’s words and style.

Catharine Niess on the right in her "mourning clothes" c. 1912

May 31st – The weather is very unpleasant, has been pouring down rain all day last night and yesterday and still raining very fast this month all through was wet there is fear of a heavy flood. The grain is flattened on the ground, little do we know what is before us. . . Preserve, me, O God: For in thee do I put my trust.

June 1st – We have had a wonderful flood (wonderful does not have the same meaning that it does today!) a lake at Johnstown gave way and drowned over 13,000 people, bridges gave way, and went down with trains. Oh! it was wonderful, it rained powerful the streams swelled every place it reached our city. done great damages only a few lives lost. May 31st (Friday) the flood at Johnstown, on Saturday the waters began to rise very high here, the Paxton creek back of us rose higher than it ever had been, the Susquehanna river in the front came up so high until it swept many things away what was left was in a frightful condition. it left very heavy mud a great many are getting sick. it is feared that we may have a great deal of sickness, but the Lord knoweth best. On Saturday night the waters began to come over the door sils (sic) front and back. Then we were surrounded. We have taken almost everything to the second story, by eleven o’clock we all had to go up and were obliged to stay there until Monday. On Sunday noon the waters began to fall very slowly. Every body seemed glad they had several sand flats in the street. At night they had torches so they could see the boom logs coming, and guide them straight through so they would do no damage to the buildings. Poor men they wished for the day. It was frightful scene, but nothing to compare with Johnstown. Many other towns were swept away with that flood. Water is very powerful and will take it course. Gods ways are not our ways and his ways are past finding out.

June 12th – Am very tired today. We washed a very large wash. Mrs. Blessing helped. Since the flood we have a great deal to do and so much company. On Monday we had six for dinner. The floors are still bare. Orders were given not to lay carpets this week. It seems very unpleasant, but we must bear up with it all. It is all right.

July 9th – I will now make another attempt to write in my Journal. Since the flood my time was so taken up, and besides we had so much rain that were unable to do our out side cleaning and sellers. (sic)Edwin (my great grandfather) white washed the seller to day, the weather has become more settled is very warm, and the farmers are very glad. They can scarcely get hands enough to get the grain away so much rain has caused it to ripen very fast and much of it falls out. A great deal of hay had turned black and it is unfit for use. The heavy rains has caused another flood at Johnstown, not so bad as the first, it was dreadful. A great many came to our city that were saved there. A family of five, husband, wife and three children. It is awful to hear tell when the water came, it came up as fast that it very soon drove them to the roof of the house. Next the house began to move off, they broke a hole through the roof and got on the outside from there to another roof and that way they struggled for life for sixteen hours, and were almost frozen and starved. Some others were 24 hours in the water almost to the neck. Several woman (sic)are here that the rest of the family were lost they are almost insane. Mrs. Blessing was here to day. We washed and ironed. . . . We have not laid our parlor carpet but all the rest. It takes the walls so long to dry.

Ephraim and Catharine Auxer Niess in the backyard of their Dock St Home, Harrisburg, Penna

To compare our life today with what Catharine went through over 100 years ago keeps me grounded. Whenever I feel sorry for myself, I pick up Catharine’s story and I’m thankful for the blessings I have. I’m also thankful for Catharine and her diary. It’s not only an insight into life in the late 1800′s but an insight into Catharine. She was a strong woman with a strong faith.

Thank you, Catharine, for taking time to record your life. My life is easy compared to yours!

 

Really, Dad? 96 Years Old?

Yes, Dad would have been 96 years old today, if only . . .

According to his birth certificate, he was born at midnight on September 4, 1915 at Sibley Hospital in Washington D.C., a hospital still in existence today. William Francis Sherman, Jr. was the first child born to the marriage of William Francis and Nellie Viola Niess Sherman, and very importantly, the first grandchild of Edwin Alonza and Carrie Virginia Carvell Niess.Never was a child more photographed than this one! and I am the lucky caretaker of the collection! Although the above studio portrait of my father is not by any means the earliest picture I have of Dad, it is one of my favorites. I love a guy not afraid to wear pink! (as if he had a choice!)

By the time Dad was five he had two younger brothers and a mother unable to cope with three very young boys. The picture above shows Dad on the tricycle and his brother Ray on the little trike. The other child is a neighborhood friend. His brother Vincent was less than a year old at the time.

Nellie’s parents stepped in when it appeared their daughter could no longer manage these three active boys, and my father became the main object of their affection. They spoiled him, photographed him, had him photographed and at one point wanted to adopt him. Dad learned to embroider at his grandmother’s knee, helped her with her china painting and learned table manners at their formal dinner table. Although they loved his brothers, Raymond and Vincent, they loved and doted on their “Buddy.”They were the ones who had this Bachrach portrait taken in 1925, probably for his 10th birthday. This is not the only Bachrach portrait in the collection of Dad’s pictures, but certainly one of my favorites!
.As mentioned in a previous post, the family fell on hard times as the depression approached and like many others in that period, traveled from place to place (NYC to San Francisco!) as jobs became scarce. One of the last portraits taken in “childhood” would have been the one taken in his ROTC uniform.
I could probably fill pages with pictures of him, summering in Braddock Heights, Maryland, traveling to Shippensburg and/or Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and generally spending a spoiled childhood in the lap of luxury. Instead I decided to share just a few of my favorite portraits with you since today would have been his birthday. I hope you have enjoyed them as much as I have sharing them with you.
Although it appears he was a lucky kid, I think it was not he that was lucky, but I! After all, I had him for my father!!

Happy Birthday Dad ~ until we meet again!

 

Life in Lancaster County. Living in the Past

We had been vacationing in Pennsylvania for years. I had been bitten by that “Genealogy Bug” and we both loved the State and culture. Over ten years ago we made a decision to leave California and move to the Keystone State. Little did we know what life had in store for us because of that decision!

After living in Lebanon for two years, we migrated south to Lititz and lived there for four years.  Keeping with our migration pattern, we headed south again and after looking at a total of 38 different houses, found an 1880′s “City Home” in Lancaster.  The first time we walked through the front door we felt an immediate connection. As it turns out, there was a connection and I’ll explain that later . . .

Philip Kleiss’ name is familiar to anybody who reads the Lancaster newspapers or watches the evening news.  My 6th great grandfather was a Tavern keeper in the heart of the city in the 1700′s. Upon his death two of his sons inherited the Tavern and the building remained on the corner of Queen and Vine Streets.  Plans to build a Convention Center in Lancaster included demolishing the tavern . . . until they discovered an underground cistern between it and Thaddeus Steven’s home.

This is the cistern that saved both of the buildings from demolition. They were saved because an archeological dig discovered evidence that the cistern was probably used as a secret hiding place on the “Underground Railroad.”  The cistern, Stevens home and my ancestor’s tavern will now be incorporated into the Convention Center as learning center and museum.

Ludwig (Lewis) Leader, a sixth great grandfather, also, was one of the earliest settlers in Marietta, a river town about 15 miles from Lancaster.  We have gone to Marietta countless times for brunch, to cemeteries, and just to drive through the town, imagining what it must have been like when he settled in the area.  We have even gone through the home he built in the early 1800′s!  It was for sale, but had been a neglected rental and Jim said Absolutely No Way!!   

Look at it today. Whomever bought it did a wonderful job restoring it; so wonderful that it was on the Candlelight Tour as denoted by the bronze plate next to the door. 

Because Lewis’ son, Samuel married Susannah Bischoff, I am in Pennsylvania! After all, I have Susannah’s Bible.

John Niess was my third great grandfather.  I knew his name, his wife’s name and his childrens’ names.  I had no idea when or where he married.  We moved to Lititz because we had joined the Moravian Church.  I, naturally, became a member of the Archives Committee in this historic Church and looked thru old Church records in answer to genealogy requests.  Imagine my surprise to find John Niess’ marriage record while searching for somebody else!  Think he led me to this Church?  Not a doubt in my mind!

Michael Auxer(s), one was my fourth great grandfather, the other my fifth great grandfather. Both lived in Elizabethtown and both were weavers. I’ve been in the Church they worshipped in and walked on the streets they once did. I have found the graves of each of their wifes, but not either of theirs! My bucket list includes finding their graves and a coverlet that either of them wove.  Philip Kleiss Auxer, was Michael, Jr’s son and my third great-grandfather. In the 1860′s he owned a house west of Elizabethtown in Stackstown, a little elbow in the road.

Today this barn is at the elbow in that road, with maybe 15 other houses in the area.

Now the connection we felt to the house we purchased in Lancaster? While researching the deeds of previous owners, I discovered that my grandmother’s third cousin, Emma Grace Auxer,  and her husband Guy B. Eberly had owned the same property in 1923!  I was living in the past! I actually lived my life in the same home “shirt-tail” relative had!

The most important move was to Pennsylvania, not necessarily all the locations. It has allowed me to find the stories of my ancestors, walk into buildings they once had and see their lives in that third dimension. The move to Pennsylvania brought them to life, warts and all.  They were real people, not just names in my database. We go on with our lives in Lancaster, walking the streets my ancestors did, entering the same buildings they did and visiting the same graves they did. I love knowing that because of what these real people did in the past,

I can truly appreciate living in the present in Lancaster County!

 

I Think They Belong ~ I Just Don’t Know How!!

 

Upon my father’s death, I inherited every bit of his family history that he had set aside at my Aunt’s house.  Among the things were a stack of photographs and portraits that he had saved. Were they labeled? What do you think? I have managed to figure most of them out, but this family has intrigued me.

I’ve shared this picture with others in various family lines and nobody thinks anybody looks familiar.  I know it must be family, otherwise it would not have been saved all these years!

What I know about this family:

• They were not an affluent family.  Their clothes don’t fit, their shoes are scuffed, they need haircuts and they are standing in dirt.
• They were probably photographed by a traveling photographer.  
• Either they or the photographer covered the home with their tablecloths. To show off the tablecloths?  To cover their home?
• This was either two or three generations.  I’d guess three.
• This was photographed in the winter when the leaves were off of the trees, most probably in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania since that is where most of my family is from.

Any thoughts on this?  I wish the photographer had taken the time to put his name on this.  He, after all, took the time to put it on a cardboard backing. . . .

 

We all made it to 65. We didn’t all get Social Security.

Since I celebrated my “Medicare Birthday” this week, I thought it would be a good chance to chronicle all of my female ancestors at the same age! . . . all the female ancestors that I have pictures of, that is! Each one of my grandmothers are either exactly 65 or a year on either side of it

Can you figure out who I resemble? Hint: it is not my mother!

My great-great grandmother, Amelia D. Gode, at least 65 years old
(my mother’s great grandmother)

My great-great grandmother, Catharine Auxer Niess, age 65
(My father’s great grandmother)

My Great Grandmother, Minnie Goda von Breyman, age 65
(my mother’s grandmother)

My great-grandmother, Carrie Carvell Niess, age 65
(my father’s grandmother)

Catharina Dorothea Schultz Lindgren
(my mother’s grandmother)

My grandmother, Nellie Viola Niess Sherman, 60+ years old
(my father’s mother)

My grandmother, Bertha E. von Breyman Lindgren
(my mother’s mother)

My mother, Catharine Dorothea Lindgren Sherman

. . . .and now you know who I’m named after!  My name is:
Dorothea (after my great-grandmother Lindgren and my mother)
Linda (after my grandfather, who was called “Lindi” and had nobody named after him!)
and of course, Sherman, carrying on my father’s name!

We all reached the age of 65, but only myself, my mother and my two grandmothers ever saw Social Security benefits.

Hopefully, there will be enough for my daughter to see!

 

Oh Genea-Santa! I’ve tried to be so-o-o good. . . .

won’t you please read my plea and bring to me. . . . .

• One or two letters to my grandfather from his family?  You know which grandfather!  The grandfather who is my brick wall!  The one who I think lied about his name. . . . and if it’s not too much to ask, could it please have a return address on it?  So I know where there were along with their names???  If I could have that, I’d be as pleased as punch!!

• . . . and if that’s impossible for you to find, how about just one coverlet that was woven by my fifth great grandfather, Michael Auxer?  You know (since you’ve been around since the beginning of time!) that he was a weaver in Elizabethtown, surely just one of his coverlets still remain today!  What do you think?  Can you find one of those for me?

• . . . and Santa, one more thing would make this the Christmas to end all Christmases and that would be that Melodeon great grandpa Niess left  Grandma Nellie.  When Grandma Nellie died she left a note that said Dad could have it, but somehow his brother got it.  I’d love to have it, Santa, but I don’t know how to ask for it. . . perhaps you could grab it for me on your travels!

. . . . and Santa, don’t think of this as a bribe, but I’ve left you a plate full of goodies with all of those carbs you need on Christmas night!  You’re going to need them to get around to the homes of all my Genea-blogger friends, and I want you to enjoy them.  However, if you want to leave one of those little things I’d like to have in exchange, feel free to do so!

 

Why You Shouldn’t Believe Everything You Read. . . .

My Grandmother’s Obituary:

SHERMAN, NELLIE VIOLA
Age 84 years in Riverside, April 30, 1976. Mother of William F. Sherman Jr. & Vincent E. Sherman. Also survived by 7 grandchildren & 5 great-grandchildren. Private services and inurnment were held in Evergreen Cemetery. Acheson & Graham Garden of Prayer Mortuary Directors.

Let’s take this obituary apart.  It’s a short one, so it will be easy to do.

1.  SHERMAN, NELLIE VIOLA
Age 84 years in Riverside, April 30, 1976.
Her name, age, place of death and date are correct.  So far, so good.

2.  Mother of William F. Sherman Jr. & Vincent E. Sherman.
Yes, she was the mother of William F. and Vincent E. Sherman.  However, if nobody knew, they’d assume both of them lived in Riverside, wouldn’t they?  After all, the obituary was published in Riverside and she died in Riverside.  The assumption would be wrong. William F. lived about an hour south of Riverside in San Diego County and Vincent E. lived across the country in Virginia!

3.  Also survived by 7 grandchildren & 5 great-grandchildren.
Yes, she had 7 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren.

4.  Private services and inurnment were held in Evergreen Cemetery.
Now this is where the facts are really, really wrong!  Private Services?  No.  Inurnment at Evergreen Cemetery?  Definitely No.

This obituary was printed in the newspaper on 1 May, the day after she died.  Now, how conceivable is this?  Services and inurnment held in time for the morning paper?

Private Services were held . . . but not until June 15 when her name was on the headstone with her mother in Springhill Cemetery in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania!

Inurned in Evergreen Cemetery in Riverside, California?  Never happened.  She wasn’t inurned until she was inurned with her mother’s remains in Pennsylvania.

I remember the day she died. My father, the above mentioned William F., called me at work to tell me.  I left work and headed for my parents home an hour and a half away.  I do not remember any services or inurnments since they lived in San Diego County and she died in Riverside County. Since I have her death certificate and all of the bills and receipts from both the mortuary in Riverside and cemetery in Shippensburg, I can say with confidence that the obituary is wrong.

So who furnished the information for the obituary?  The family usually does, don’t they?  Well, yes and no in this case.  The family furnished the information about her descendants to the mortuary, and the mortuary furnished the information to the newspaper. . . . . embellishing it a little.

Springhill Cemetery, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania

In summation, death certificates and obituaries, are not always to be taken as gospel.  They are only as accurate as the knowledge of the person furnishing the information.  It’s the same today as it was in the days our ancestors lived and breathed on this fine earth!

 

Wordless Wednesday and a Favorite Grandpa

My Great-Grandfather, Edwin A. Niess and his three grandsons, “Buddy,” (my father, William F. Sherman), and his younger brothers, Raymond C., and Vincent E..  This was taken in Washington D.C. about 1925 or 1926.