Week 9
While my family like all families has survived floods and droughts, I think the most significant disaster the family faced was a combination of several really bad things happening in quick succession, not all natural either....
Conrad Keuhn and his wife Elizabetha, Johann George Hix along with his wife Gertraut, Claudius and Anna Bernhart, Johann Rothe and Cecilia, Johann and Frederika Fuchs, Johann and Anna Frick, Johann and Katarina Kirschbaum. These are the names of my ancestors who immigrated to Russia in response to Catherine the Great offering land and freedom. These are just a few of the people who became "Germans from Russia". (Just a side note here, can you see the whole same name thing going on?)
Keep in mind that there is no country of Germany in the 1600 and 1700's, there are collections of city/states each with their own rulers (princes, barons etc.). The Holy Roman Empire rules them early in this period and by the end of the 1700's the Austro-Hungarian and Prussian Empires are coming to the front.
In 1618 the 30 years war (actually a series of wars) began and it ended in 1648. Chroniclers of the time estimate that around one half to two thirds of the German population died during this time. Those who were not killed in the fighting starved or succumbed to plague and pestilence. This was the time of the writing of the Grimm's Fairy Tales, which were quite grim before Disney got hold of them. This was also the peak of the 'Little Ice Age' that held Europe for about 300 years. Rivers froze and the growing season was short. There was another war in the area that is now Germany at the end of the 1600's that resulted in a 'scorched earth' sort of effect inside the German borders. The 'Nine Years War', which had different names in other places (French and Indian War in America) happened 1754-1763 adding even more hardship to the lives of the average people.
In 1681 William Penn took his mostly German colonists to America, it would be another 80 years before my family decided they too needed to leave.
Catherine the Great, Czarina of Russia, did not think much of the farmers/peasantry of Russia. She was much more impressed with the industriousness, neatness and skill of her native German farmers and she had a dream of making the Volga River the breadbasket of Russia. In 1763 she offered the new colonists free land, exemption from taxes, religious freedom and exemption from military service. They came by the thousands, they found hardship initially but in the end they did make the Volga River valley the breadbasket of Russia and had a relatively good life until the late 1800's when they began to see the precursors of the revolutions to come.
They immigrated again to America this time. I am glad they did. Sometimes disasters lead to good things!
Saturday, February 29, 2020
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
Favorite Discovery
Week 7
This one took some time to think of as I have written about a lot of my favorites, but I kept thinking of perhaps then the one that was most unexpected, and filled a blank spot, and made me smile.
The back story is almost as important as the story on this one....
Aunt Maxie was my mother in law's aunt who was only a few years older than her, so they grew up
more like cousins than aunt and niece. Aunt Maxie was a character, she was the first woman to be an engineer/conductor on the "red line" trolley in LA California, she was married five times and she had a wicked sense of humor. My mother in law Charline and Maxie both loved family history and genealogy, so later in life (both in their 40's and 50's) Charline's job allowed her to pay for Maxie's research in some cases, and contribute to it in others. Remember, this is before the internet, this was writing letters and looking at census reports in person, leaving ads in the back of genealogy magazines and writing to county clerks and asking if so and so was born there. Maxie put together an extensive history of the family she and Charline shared. She also put together the family histories of the husbands with whom she had had children - and this is where my discovery starts...
Charline passed before Maxie but Maxie was eventually gone as well and I, as the other family history nut, was the recipient of 5 large Rubbermaid boxes of family group sheets, death certificates, newspaper articles etc. I spent a whole winter digitizing over 5000 pieces of paper and putting it all in family binders. I had one binder left over and that one was for her next-to-last husband Robert (Bob) Guinty's family. I knew her daughter and had contacted her and she would be glad to have the information from her mom on her father's family and we arranged an exchange in the near future. I wondered if perhaps I should go through and digitize this info as well just in case. (I am a big believer in Murphy's Law!) As I began the process I found the name Quint in the records and just for fun set that whole group of papers and notes to one side. Quint was my maternal grandmother's maiden name and I thought I might find a couple of relatives.
Imagine my surprise when I started going through this new Quint tree and found that Uncle Bob's grandfather on his mothers side was my 3rd great uncle on my mothers side! In fact she had traced that Quint family all the way back to Germany, 3 generations farther than I had been able to using the internet! I was blown away to say the least. It is one of my most amazing "stumble upon" pieces of info to date!
I even had a picture of these brothers in my files - Frederick was the oldest, William is my 3x great grandfather and Henry Hermann was Uncle Bobs grandfather.
Still makes me smile, Aunt Maxie and Mom would have loved the story!
This one took some time to think of as I have written about a lot of my favorites, but I kept thinking of perhaps then the one that was most unexpected, and filled a blank spot, and made me smile.
The back story is almost as important as the story on this one....
Aunt Maxie was my mother in law's aunt who was only a few years older than her, so they grew up
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| Aunt Maxie Sanders in her Red Line Uniform |
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| Charline Herring Gates |
Charline passed before Maxie but Maxie was eventually gone as well and I, as the other family history nut, was the recipient of 5 large Rubbermaid boxes of family group sheets, death certificates, newspaper articles etc. I spent a whole winter digitizing over 5000 pieces of paper and putting it all in family binders. I had one binder left over and that one was for her next-to-last husband Robert (Bob) Guinty's family. I knew her daughter and had contacted her and she would be glad to have the information from her mom on her father's family and we arranged an exchange in the near future. I wondered if perhaps I should go through and digitize this info as well just in case. (I am a big believer in Murphy's Law!) As I began the process I found the name Quint in the records and just for fun set that whole group of papers and notes to one side. Quint was my maternal grandmother's maiden name and I thought I might find a couple of relatives.
 |
| l-r Frederick, William, Henry Hermann |
Imagine my surprise when I started going through this new Quint tree and found that Uncle Bob's grandfather on his mothers side was my 3rd great uncle on my mothers side! In fact she had traced that Quint family all the way back to Germany, 3 generations farther than I had been able to using the internet! I was blown away to say the least. It is one of my most amazing "stumble upon" pieces of info to date!
I even had a picture of these brothers in my files - Frederick was the oldest, William is my 3x great grandfather and Henry Hermann was Uncle Bobs grandfather.
Still makes me smile, Aunt Maxie and Mom would have loved the story!
Saturday, February 8, 2020
Close to Home
This is the prompt for week 4 of 52 ancestors in 52 weeks (Yes I am out of order, happens to me a lot)
The minute I saw this writing prompt I thought of my moms uncle, Uncle Glen Medlin. Uncle Glen was a fun uncle to my mom and her siblings and cousins, and he continued that tradition to my generation.
Uncle Glen was born on May 21 of 1919, a twin and his twin was born dead. He never married and lived in that same house until his death in 1991. Talk about close to home!
Glen worked hard on the farm with his brothers and his dad. He attended the Lone star School and went through the 8th grade there. He walked to school because it was "Close to Home".
Glen enlisted in the Army during WWII and was sent to New Guinea in the Pacific theater. He never talked about it but when we went to the National cemetery in Hawaii we got a real education in how bad the fighting was there. Glen's dad died in January of 1943 and the Army sent him home so he could run the family farm for his mother, farming was considered vital to the war effort. It was the farthest he had ever been from home.
I imagine all bachelor uncles and spinster aunts engender theories and stories about possible lost loves that left them pining so they never married? In Glens case it was actually true! He had a girl friend when he left for the war and when he came home she had married someone else...like a movie! He stayed on the farm and ran it for his mother till she died in 1962. He then farmed until his own death in a tractor accident in 1991
Uncle Glen loved children and would play and horse around with us kids. He was famous later in life, in his late 60's and early 70's for bringing around a gallon of fresh cream when he would drop in to visit and you knew he was hoping you'd make homemade ice cream and of course invite him for dinner! He told me "The army done sent me halfway round the world...I looked around and decided I didn't need to see anything else so I never left home again!"
...and that is why the phrase "close to home" makes me think of Uncle Glen!
The minute I saw this writing prompt I thought of my moms uncle, Uncle Glen Medlin. Uncle Glen was a fun uncle to my mom and her siblings and cousins, and he continued that tradition to my generation.
Uncle Glen was born on May 21 of 1919, a twin and his twin was born dead. He never married and lived in that same house until his death in 1991. Talk about close to home!
Glen worked hard on the farm with his brothers and his dad. He attended the Lone star School and went through the 8th grade there. He walked to school because it was "Close to Home".
Glen enlisted in the Army during WWII and was sent to New Guinea in the Pacific theater. He never talked about it but when we went to the National cemetery in Hawaii we got a real education in how bad the fighting was there. Glen's dad died in January of 1943 and the Army sent him home so he could run the family farm for his mother, farming was considered vital to the war effort. It was the farthest he had ever been from home.
I imagine all bachelor uncles and spinster aunts engender theories and stories about possible lost loves that left them pining so they never married? In Glens case it was actually true! He had a girl friend when he left for the war and when he came home she had married someone else...like a movie! He stayed on the farm and ran it for his mother till she died in 1962. He then farmed until his own death in a tractor accident in 1991
Uncle Glen loved children and would play and horse around with us kids. He was famous later in life, in his late 60's and early 70's for bringing around a gallon of fresh cream when he would drop in to visit and you knew he was hoping you'd make homemade ice cream and of course invite him for dinner! He told me "The army done sent me halfway round the world...I looked around and decided I didn't need to see anything else so I never left home again!"
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| Uncle Glen and my youngest in 1989 |
Thursday, February 6, 2020
Same Name
52 Ancestors in 52 weeks...
I am a little out of sequence here, but onward, etc.!!
The theme of 'Same Name' is one I have written about before, (see here) Germans tended to give the name of a deceased child to the next one born with the correct gender. A nightmare for a family historian! At other times it seemed as though there were only a few carefully chosen names used in a population and everyone had one of the 4 or 5 names - Aackk!!!
Even my own name, Kathryn, seemed to appear fairly often. Here are a few of my favorite Kathy's...
Perhaps my favorite ancestress who shares a name with me actually shares the whole name.
Catherine Gates, whose father started out as Henry Getz and founded the village of Gatesburg PA, is my 4th great grandmother. Of course my maiden name is Kiehn and not Gates, but it is a fun fact to pull out when starting a discussion about the family history! It also has the advantage of making my kids cringe when I tell them "your dad and I could be related!" I haven't found a connection - for the record. Catherine lived from 1786 to 1832 and married George Kohlmeyer. She was one of the 17 surviving children of her father who was a Revolutionary War Veteran.
Undoubtedly my most frustrating Cathryn is the one who married Alexander Viles, lived from 1814 to 1852 and whose last name I have not been able to trace. She died during the migration of the family from Tennessee to Missouri during a short stay in Illinois. She is one of my "brick walls". Every Viles tree I have run across has a shortened branch at her name...someday!
Catharina Margaretha Bender was born in 1718 in Germany, packed up her family and moved to the Volga River valley in Russia in the 1760's. This was a horribly difficult trip, part by ship and part by covered wagon, the first years were disastrous and many died. She is my 6th great grandmother. Her great grandson will marry...
Katharina Misskampf who was born in 1807 in Kolb Russia, one of the German-Russian colonies along the Volga. Her daughter ....
Mary Kathryn Schreiner is the only one of my ancestresses who spells their name as I do! Born in 1850 in Kolb Russia she will watch her daughter leave all of her family behind and take part in another great migration, this time to America, with thousands of other "Volga Germans" aka "Germans from Russia".
Katharina Margaretha Hoffman is living in the next town over, born in 1853, her son George will marry a girl from the village of Kolb Russia daughter of Mary Kathryn Schreiner and she too will watch her son and his family leave all behind and immigrate to America.
My parents had no idea about these ladies when they gave me my name years ago, but it was fun to find my name among these brave women who were part of these amazing migrations, difficult times, and historic events.
I am a little out of sequence here, but onward, etc.!!
The theme of 'Same Name' is one I have written about before, (see here) Germans tended to give the name of a deceased child to the next one born with the correct gender. A nightmare for a family historian! At other times it seemed as though there were only a few carefully chosen names used in a population and everyone had one of the 4 or 5 names - Aackk!!!
Even my own name, Kathryn, seemed to appear fairly often. Here are a few of my favorite Kathy's...
Perhaps my favorite ancestress who shares a name with me actually shares the whole name.
Catherine Gates, whose father started out as Henry Getz and founded the village of Gatesburg PA, is my 4th great grandmother. Of course my maiden name is Kiehn and not Gates, but it is a fun fact to pull out when starting a discussion about the family history! It also has the advantage of making my kids cringe when I tell them "your dad and I could be related!" I haven't found a connection - for the record. Catherine lived from 1786 to 1832 and married George Kohlmeyer. She was one of the 17 surviving children of her father who was a Revolutionary War Veteran.
Undoubtedly my most frustrating Cathryn is the one who married Alexander Viles, lived from 1814 to 1852 and whose last name I have not been able to trace. She died during the migration of the family from Tennessee to Missouri during a short stay in Illinois. She is one of my "brick walls". Every Viles tree I have run across has a shortened branch at her name...someday!
Catharina Margaretha Bender was born in 1718 in Germany, packed up her family and moved to the Volga River valley in Russia in the 1760's. This was a horribly difficult trip, part by ship and part by covered wagon, the first years were disastrous and many died. She is my 6th great grandmother. Her great grandson will marry...
Katharina Misskampf who was born in 1807 in Kolb Russia, one of the German-Russian colonies along the Volga. Her daughter ....
Mary Kathryn Schreiner is the only one of my ancestresses who spells their name as I do! Born in 1850 in Kolb Russia she will watch her daughter leave all of her family behind and take part in another great migration, this time to America, with thousands of other "Volga Germans" aka "Germans from Russia".
Katharina Margaretha Hoffman is living in the next town over, born in 1853, her son George will marry a girl from the village of Kolb Russia daughter of Mary Kathryn Schreiner and she too will watch her son and his family leave all behind and immigrate to America.
My parents had no idea about these ladies when they gave me my name years ago, but it was fun to find my name among these brave women who were part of these amazing migrations, difficult times, and historic events.
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