Puzzle Pieces Should Fit Together

Genealogy is a lot like working puzzles.  We only get the full picture when everything fits together.  Citing sources is our proof that the pieces fit, it helps us remember where we got the information and it is the proof that the information is correct. Tonight, as I was doing a little more research on my Leader line, I came across this, on not one, but two different trees on Ancestry.com. Since Elizabeth Leader is in my family line, this interested me.

This is the page from a family tree that references Elizabeth.

Notice the death information.  She died in 1872.  That is verifiable.  Her source citation references the U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedule.  Those accompanied census data, and we all know that U.S. census’ were taken every ten years, and not in years ending in 2′s.

Second and third mistakes in this citation would be her name and where she died. If she married Oliver McCullough in 1828, her surname was no longer Leader, right?  and if she died in North East, Maryland, why would she appear on the Mortality schedule for Bedford County, Pennsylvania?  Bedford, Pennsylvania is 200 miles from North East, via the interstate today and takes almost 4 hours to travel.

These puzzle pieces really belonged in two different boxes.  The owners of the trees have their puzzles all mixed up!

 

Oh Susannah! Was this you??

Lancaster County Historical Society is the repository for the old County records, and entering them into the Society’s database is a long, time consuming process.  One person works eight hours a day on this task.  It will take years to finish it.  

A couple of Saturdays ago, when I was volunteering at the Historical Society, I was surfin’ through the database on Lancaster County records and came across an entry for “Susanna Leader” that had been added since I had last surfed through them.  It caught me entirely off guard! I had to find out what was in the Quarter Session documents, so I requested a copy of them from the Archives.

I knew Susannah had lead a tumultuous life, but this came as a complete shock!  In the 1823 November Quarter Sessions the “Grand Inquest for the County of Lancaster” found that Henry Heckroth, “late of the county aforesaid” (did he skip out??) . . . the ninth day of April in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty . . . did commit fornication with a certain Susan Leader of Marietta and there did beget a Male Bastard child. . . .

Now, bear in mind that Susannah and Samuel Leader lived in Marietta ( the court findings have “Susanna Leader of the Borough of Marietta”) and her son, Frederick was born in 1821, seven years after her last child.   Also, in 1831, on the “Poor Children’s List,” Susannah, alone, was listed as the parent for Frederick.

The strange part of all of this is the fact that Samuel did not die until 1839, and Susannah’s Bible and her purchase of another home all center around his death date.  Were they separated for awhile?  Did they divorce?  So far, I can’t find anything to indicate so.  Did he die intestate with a little money?  No record of that either.

Timeline:

• 18?? Samuel and Susannah marry
• 1813 Samuel purchases a home in Marietta
• 1813 Maria born, first child
• 1814 Jacob born, second child
• 1819 Samuel in Debtor’s Prison, everything sold
• 1820 April 9th – Fornication w/Henry Heckroth
• 1820 Census shows 1 male 0-10 and 1 male 45 and older (Jacob & Samuel)
• 2 females 0-10, (Maria and ??) 1 female 26-45 (Susannah)
• 1821 Frederick born – month unknown
• 1824 Samuel’s home sold for debts (another home??)
• 1831 Susannah listed as parent on Poor Children’s List; Frederick owes for 3 sheets of paper
• Tax lists between 1829 and 1837 show Samuel owned no property
• 1839 Samuel dies
• 1840 Susannah purchases home in Elizabethtown
• 1844 Susannah marries George Kehler of Elizabethtown

This is going to take some more digging.  I’m going to start going through old newspapers on microfilm and find out what happened to dear old Henry.  Was he Frederick’s father?  Court records indicate such. . . .   we’ll see

I have a persistent nature. . .

 

Wordless Wednesday and Scenes from Brandywine

 

Benjamin Ring Home; Used as HQ for George Washington

 

Rear view of home showing cook oven extension

 

Ring Home Stone Cellar

 

Awesome tree at Gideon Gilpin's House; site of Lafayette's HQ

 

Sign at base of tree

 

For more information on the historic site, go to the Brandywine website.

 

Newspaper Archives; my favorite reading!

I love Newspaper archives. Not only do I search for ancestors in them, I read them issue by issue, just to get a feel for the time. And what wonderful results that can yield!

With newspapers now readily available online I can read newspapers anytime day or night.  Sites like Genealogy Bank, Ancestry.com, ProQuest, Footnote, Libraries, Historical Societies, Colleges and Archives; all are to be commended for putting these invaluable resources out there for researchers around the world.

It was while I was just going through old newspapers online, that I finally jumped over the brickwall that was my great-greatgrandfather, John Niess.

One evening I was putting in variants of my grandmother’s maiden name and came across a familiar name, and then the date jumped out at me!  According to my great-great-grandmother’s obituary, her husband had “preceded her in death nineteen years before.”  Since she died in 1905 and the date of the newspaper I was looking at was July of 1886, it was a strong probability, that my John Niess, was the person mentioned in this little blurb.

This deserved to be looked into a little further, so the next morning, I walked on down to the library for a look at the local newspaper’s microfilm.  I almost jumped up from the viewer and did a “grateful dance” around the microfilm viewer!  (Key word in that sentence is “almost!”) I had finally found his death date!  That little blurb from a Philadelphia newspaper led me to this article in a Lancaster newspaper:

DEATH ON THE RAIL
An Old Man struck By a Locomotive and Killed at Mountville
John Neiss, a man aged seventy-seven, was struck and killed by extra engine west, No. 374, of the Pennsylvania railroad, at the east end of the village of Mountville, this forenoon.  The property on which the deceased lived is situated along and extended back to the deep cut through which the railroad passes.  Between 10 and 11 o’clock a. m. his wife sent him out to empty some potato parlings down the railroad embankment.  The bucket containing them fell out of his hand and rolled down upon the track.  He went after the vessel, and while standing on the track was struck by the engine.  He was not mangled, but died in less than a half hour after he was struck.  Coroner Honaman was notified, and he left this city at 2 o’clock for Mountville to hold an inquest.
The deceased had resided in Mountville for some years, and besides a wife leaves several grown children.  One of them, a daughter, lives at home.  Neiss was crippled in one of his arms and was a laborer.

The more expanded version helped to verify that this was indeed, my great-greatgrandfather.  It was just one more fact I learned about his life, thanks to the newspapers online and on microfilm.

Had it not been for those wonderful sites that post newspapers, I would have never found this!  I had been searching for his death date for years.

John Niess, you should have let that bucket lay!

 

Susan and Sarah! Sisters! and both married Jacob.

The Obituary:

Lancaster Daily Intelligencer,
Tuesday, July 12, 1882:
DEATHS:
COLE – In this city, July 11, Susannah, relict of the late Abraham Cole, in the 82nd year of her age.
Her relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend the funeral, from the residence of her son-in-law, T.A. Albright, No. 337 West King street, on Friday afternoon at 2 o’clock.

The Story:

Susan Ward and her sister, Sarah, probably shared toys as children.  As adults, they shared a husband, although not at the same time.

Sarah was the oldest, she was born in May of 1784 and Susannnah (Susan) was born in  September of 1800.  When Susan was only 14, she watched her sister marry Jacob Axer and become the mother of three of his children.  Every two years, Sarah had a child, John in 1815, Catharine in 1817, and in 1819 another child.  This child didn’t even live a full day, and Sarah only lived until the next day.  It must have been a real tragedy to everybody around the young family.

Susan, it appears, may have been a caregiver, both to the children and their father, as Jacob and Susan were married two years after Sarah’s death.  Jacob and Susan married on September 27, 1819.  Less than a month later, their first child, Sarah, was born.  Their young daughter, was named in honor of Jacob’s first wife and Susan’s sister.  Alas, this young daughter, did not live to see October end.  She, too, had a short life.

Four more children were born to this marriage, Jacob Jr. in 1822, Sarah in 1828, George in 1832 and Frederick in 1836.  In 1843, Jacob died and was buried next to Sarah in Lancaster Cemetery.

Susan had three children at home and was on her own.  Less than a year later, she married widower, Abraham Cole who was a Tanner in Lancaster.  It appears the couple did not own property.  No deeds have been found for them and in 1857, they boarded at the Keystone Tavern.  Three years later they lived with the Susan’s daughter, Sarah, and her family.

Fact: Newspaper obituary published 30 November 1864:

Abraham Cole died on  November 28, 1864 and is buried next to his first wife in Lancaster Cemetery.  It took me awhile to find his obituary since I was looking for his correct name, not Ephraim!  Silly me!  Susan continued to live the remainder of her days with the Albrights and died in July of 1882.  Her will left her entire estate to the Albrights, after her debts were paid.  Her other children were excluded.  She was buried in Lancaster Cemetery next to her 2nd husband Abraham Cole.

Lancaster Cemetery, Susannah Ward Axer Cole

See anything funny about this picture?  You only see Susannah’s inscription, right?  Guess what?  Abraham Cole and his first wife’s stones face forward; Susannah’s faces backwards!  Wouldn’t you like to know the story behind this? Was it a mistake?  Was it a decision by Abraham’s family?  What’s the story??

Lancaster Cemetery, Abraham and Catharine Cole's headstone

. . . and this is why I love obituaries and cemeteries.  Oh the “stories” they can tell!

 

I’m on a mission! I found some new Church Records!

Church records are probably my favorite documents.  Even though a lot of the information is not quite accurate, they are full of clues and fun to read!

I love Baptismal records that indicate “supposed father.”  I love marriage records that indicate one party (or both) were widowed and I love death records that give the cause of death.

On Saturday, I just found the database for a Church that no longer exists, and I found it 20 minutes before closing time!  Know what makes for a long weekend?  No access to those Church records!  Today, I was on a mission!

My mission was to spend as long as I can, with my computer next to me, searching for those I know were either married or buried in this town that I’ve not been able to find. I’d decided to head right to the source.  The Philip Schaff Library. At the Lancaster Theological Seminary. Second Floor is one of the best kept secrets for church records ~ The Evangelical and Reformed Historical Society. I love this place, and I’m usually the only person using the records when I’m there.

The day was beautiful and I walked the 8 blocks rather than drive.  it was a no brainer, even carrying my laptop!  Photo ops abounded! The cars happened to be gone from the front of this row of homes, giving me a good opportunity to take a great picture of some Lemon Street Homes, one block from my destination.

On the campus of the Seminary is probably one of the prettiest buildings, and of course the clouds and sky didn’t hurt the picture at all.  Any angle you photograph the Lark Building from would be the right one.  This building was built in 1894 and gets more beautiful every time I see it!

Now let’s get back to my purpose for the walk ~ Church Records!  I had been looking for the records of the St. Paul Reformed Church’s congregation, but thought I’d been overlooking the books.  Everytime I filed Church books (as part of my volunteer responsibilities) I’d look and never find anything!  There was a reason.

The records were on microfilm!  Who would have thought?  Well, I found them Saturday and they had a lot of names that I’ve been looking for in them and I didn’t have a chance to go through the microfilm with a fine tooth comb.

Since I’d rather look at books than microfilm, I decided to go to the source and look at the records there.  And the source didn’t let me down!  I got to look at the original records, page by page by page.  My idea of nirvana.

Death Records for the year 1851

Rather than print each page with one of “my names” on it, I photographed each page in it’s entireity, and then cut the photo enhanced, information I needed.  Works for me.  An example of that is below.  I can now paste it on a word document and add it to the file it belongs in.  Saves the printing cost and helps to save a tree.

Death Record for Abraham Cole, 1864

All in all,  three hours at the library was a good one.  I came home with over 60 images loaded on my camera, and a lot of loose ends tied up.  I also had a wonderful walk through the beautiful streets of Lancaster.

Ah!  The Perfect Life. . . . for three hours, anyway, and then I got the news about Katrinka.

See my preceding post and weep with us for our companion that is no longer with in our home.

It’s a checks and balance system ~ joy and grief, good and bad.  I experienced all of those emotions today.

 

Seriously? My Ten Essential Genealogy Books? Only Ten?

I was tempted to say that I could do without a library.  After all, I volunteer at the local Historical Society and have access to every book I could possibly want!  and with all those databases and books online, why do I even need all those books I have?

. . .and then sanity overtook me!  I’m a tactile person and I must touch, turn pages and be able to grab a book in the middle of the night!  I need to put stickies on pages and even highlight an entry or two.  I love my books!

You’re going to see a pattern in my selection of books.  I’ve listed not only my essential books for doing Lancaster County research, but my most frequently used books.  My Lancaster County books are the most well worn books in my collection.

Lancaster County Books necessary in my research

• The most important book in my collection was one of the oldest books in my collection.  A friend in Florida said I absolutely could not do Pennsylvania research without this book.  I’ve had this book for about 15 years and it is well used.  “Pennsylvania Line” was published by SW Pennsylvania Genealogical Society and invaluable in my research.  It contains maps of when counties were incorporated and from what county, rivers, streams, names of old, non-existant towns, post offices, and literally everything Pennsylvania!

Pennsylvania Line - Where would I be without this book???

• My German to English , English to German Dictionary is right up there at the top.  Although I can pick out the basic German in Church records (births, deaths, marriages, etc.)  those other words pop up now and then.  This book has aided me in helping to decipher meanings and tense.  I found it at a garage sale about 7 years ago and it was 50 cents well spent!  Hardback, large and in good condition!  Wow, what a bargain!

• “Churches and Cemeteries of Lancaster County“, by A. Hunter Rineer.  I carry this book in my car!  When I need it, I have to go out to the car to find it!  Not only does it list the Churches and Cemeteries of today, it lists ones that used to be.  It tells the history of each congregation and where their records are kept.  Every cemetery, past and present, is also noted with their history and a map to show exactly where it is.  Another book that has been invaluable in my research since I am, after all,  a Cemetery Person!

• The next book is a rather large book (dimension wise) and has been invaluable in placing my ancestors in various townships and locations. The “1864 Atlas of Lancaster County “has township maps with names marked on it, where they lived, who lived next to them, etc.  It has towns, streams, people and roads.  I was able to take a deed of one of my ancestors and with the help of this book actually find the curve in the road that his house remains on today.

• One of the heaviest and fattest books in my library is “The History of Lancaster County “by Ellis and Evans.  This is a huge book, and as it size attests, has a lot of information.  When I use it, I have to clear off a big chunk of my desk, because it is not a lap book by any means!  There are biographies, histories of each township, tax lists, histories of various organizations, and the list goes on and on.  Any body who had roots in our area is probably in this book.

The Biggest Book in My Collection. . .and this doesn't include the index!

• My next selection is actually four volumes.  Does it count for four books or one?  “Trinity Lutheran Church Records, ” has helped immensely in my research.  The years 1767 through 1810 were translated and transcribed by Debra D. Smith and Frederick S. Weiser,  It was an enormous undertaking, but one many people have appreciated!  My ancestors who settled in Lancaster County were either of the Lutheran or Reformed faith (Duh! they were Germans!) and I have so many stickies, highlighted entries and dog-earred pages in this set, that it would probably not be of interest to anybody else!

• The last very necessary book in my Lancaster County research is actually a series of  five books.  “Lancaster County Church Records of the 18th Century,” the 5 volume set was compiled by F. Edward Wright. Since 18th century ancestors abound in my family, this is another place that my stickies and highlight marker has found it way to!  Having the stickies has helped me flip right to the page in question, since I’ve marked surnames on each one.

I’ve counted the last two entries as five, since the books total nine!  I could list an actual ten books or I could list an actual ten titles.  Since I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, I compromised. I’ve been blessed to have these Pennsylvania Dutch ancestors settle in a region where records are so abundant!

I love my books; the feel of them, the look of them and most of the content in them!

My research is dependent on these books.

 

I’m showing Susannah’s Bible, but not telling on her!

I have three other family Bibles, but this is the one that I treasure the most.  It’s not because it’s the oldest. It’s not because it is the smallest.  It’s not because it is written in German.  and It’s not because it belonged to Susannah.  It’s the feeling I get when I touch this Bible and when I think of Susannah’s life and how it’s affected my life.

Susannah’s Bible is responsible for many major changes in my life.  The Bible is small, written in German, leather flaking off, and probably never read.  Her name is written in it, the date is written in it and Elizabethtown, Lancaster County, is written in it.  However, Susannah didn’t write in her Bible, nor did she read her Bible.

Genisis I, Susannah

You see, Susannah couldn’t read or write.  It was 1839 and many women did not read or write and she was no exception.  Every legal document she signed, she signed with her “X.”  The Bible was probably presented to her upon the death of her first husband, Samuel Leader.  That is another story.  This story is about the Bible, not Susannah.

I don’t think Susannah had any idea of the travels her Bible would take or the effect it would have one of it’s caretakers.

• At some point, Susannah gave the Bible to Amos Zook Myers, a Baptist Minister.  It had to be before 1884, since that was the year Susannah died.  Amos had a notation in the Bible that “Grandmother Kaler” had given it to him.  Susannah’s 2nd husband was George Kaylor, so I know that it was Susannah who gave it to him.  However, I cannot find out how Amos fits into the family tree!

Susannah to Amos Zook Myers

• In 1911, Amos gave it to my great-grandfather, Edwin A. Niess.  I know this because my great-grandfather was a meticulous, well-organized lawyer, and he noted this on the inside of the back cover.  Upon his death in 1948, his son, Edwin Mark Niess,  received the Bible.

Third owner of the Bible ~ Edwin Alonzo Niess

• Edwin M. died in 1966 and it sat in his basement until his widow’s death in 1989.  At that point, the family papers were all boxed up and went to my aunt in Maryland.  My father got the box on a visit to my aunt a year later, and Susannah’s Bible left Maryland and went to California.

• My father only had the Bible for an evening.  He died the next morning, yet the Bible was on it’s way to his home in California.

• I received the Bible shortly after it’s arrival in Calfornia.  (See my blog titled “Every once in awhile I reflect on how far I’ve come in my research”) I became fascinated with the Bible since I had no idea who Susannah was!  I knew she had to be kin, otherwise the Bible would not have been saved all these years.

Every summer we would travel to Pennsylvania from California so I could try to find out who Susannah was.  It took me over five summers to finally find out, and I just stumbled on it in a cemetery!

Five summers was enough for us to know we loved Pennsylvania.  Susannah’s Bible had drawn us to her homeland.  We finally sold our home in California and bought a home in Pennsylvania.

Susannah’s Bible

One hundred and seventy years later the Bible is home in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

We brought Susannah’s Bible back where it belonged.

 

I went back to the Cemetery today

and used the techniques suggested by fellow Genea-bloggers. I also used water, a soft brush and a rag, removing some of the years of grime and yuck from the stone. I only removed enough to read the pertinent information. No harsh cleaning agents were used, and no stiff brushes. I felt this stone had survived for over 100 years and I didn’t want to be the one who hastened it’s demise!

As soon as I uncovered enough to rub the dates, I stopped cleaning (thankfully ~ that was hard work!) and started in on my main mission. The death date was the cincher, and my “Elizabeth A.” died in 1826; the headstone’s “Elizabeth A.” died in 1888! Not my Elizabeth, nutz!

Elizabeth Somebody Else, not Elizabeth Auxer Kleiss

. . . but all was not in vain! First of all, when I was leaving the aisle that Elizabeth Somebody Else is buried in, I saw this beautiful hawk sitting on a headstone. . . .in the middle of the City! He sat there oblivious to my presence, in my car, and waited for me to take his picture! As I started moving again, he noticed me and flew off!

Cemetery Pet?

But back to the subject, I found headstones! Headstones belonging to George Kleiss, Jr., next to his sister, Anna Maria Weigand! I also found Walter F. Albright and his wife, Barbara’s headstones, in a nice border lined cemetery plot. Anna Maria’s must have been beautiful. . . before it was vandalized! Sad.

Vandalized headstone of Anna Maria Kleiss Weigand

Now for the gross part. I wore flip flops since it was a bit warm, never thinking my feet would get dirty. Now why wouldn’t they? I walked one quarter of the largest cemetery in Lancaster, and I expected my feet to remain lily white? (with pink toenails, of course) When I got home at looked down at my feet, I was shocked! I immediately found the darkest wash cloth in the house (black) and washed my feet! Yuck!

Yucky, Dirty Feet!

Thank you all for the suggestions! You helped me eliminate a wrong headstone and helped me find headstones in the future.

Now to hop in the shower. . . . . .

 

How on Earth can I read this Headstone??

Elizabeth Auxer Kleiss was the wife of Johan Philip Kleiss and was buried along with him at the First Reformed Church in their cemetery in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  For eternity.  Really???

Well, only until they needed that ground for something else!  At that point they needed to find a final resting spot for the occupants of the cemetery and many of the stones were moved to the Stranger’s Burial Ground in Lancaster Cemetery. Some were put in the wall at the Church.

Records indicate that Elizabeth and Philip were moved to Lancaster Cemetery.  The stones in the Stranger’s ground are scattered, sunken, broken or missing.  I “think” I found Elizabeth’s stone; I have not found Philip’s.

I can read the “Elizabeth A” and I can read “September” but I can read nothing else.  So I went back to the cemetery and took some close ups thinking I could photo edit them and read them.

Elizabeth's stone?

Elizabeth's stone?

Elizabeth's stone?

Any suggestions on how to read this stone?  I don’t want to try to clean it and ruin the stone, but if there is a safe way to read it and/or clean it, I’m open to suggestions!  There is a strong possiblility that it is my ancestor Elizabeth’s stone, since the name matches and September is the month she was born in.

Help!