On this date in 1783, Washington IRVING was born. He wrote The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I love that Bart’s family has a connection to Sleepy Hollow and the VAN TASSEL family. Here’s the post I wrote about it. I’d love for you to read it (or re-read it, whichever).
Until next time,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives blog
Note to reader: I started writing this story in the first day or two of January 2023. It’s a story that I first heard my father-in-law tell shortly before he passed away. It intrigued me and I began researching and writing the story right away. I’ve been sitting on the story longer than I intended and now it’s time to release it. As many of you know, we lost Bart’s dad in March of 2023. I’d like to thank my guest blogger Rae CONNER for helping me finish this story. I was unable to make much headway in my initial research so I reached out to her for help since the subject of the post is her family.
The nugget of the story that I started with was that Louis KIRK was a chauffer for George and Jessie (CARR) COLEMAN who owned the historic Coleman Theater in Miami, Ottawa County, Oklahoma. My father-in-law was young and one of things about Louis KIRK that intrigued him was Louis’ prowess in performing rope tricks.
I’m keeping the original story as I wrote it in January, 2023, which is what you’ll see starting in the next section. I’ll add in Rae’s story as well which was also written in January of 2023. Please be kind and courteous with copying the information. I’m fine with my portion being copied but please give credit to my blog. If you wish to re-post or copy Rae’s portion, please contact her before doing that. I hope you enjoy one of my father-in-law’s last stories. I’m grateful for the opportunity to tell it.
We took my husband’s parents on a road trip today (note: this was on the 1st or 2nd of January, 2023) because I needed information. We took them back to a place my father-in-law lived when he was young. There wasn’t much he could tell me. However, he did tell an interesting story as we were driving through Miami, Oklahoma. I’d like to relay that story to you.
In downtown Miami is a nice, historic building where the Coleman Theater is located. The Coleman Theater was built about 1929 for George COLEMAN (husband of Jessie COLEMAN), who was a “local mining magnate” . It’s been beautifully restored inside and out. I encourage you to go look at the pictures on the website. As we were passing by it, my father-in-law said that his aunt Ina’s husband used to chauffer Mrs. Jessie COLEMAN around. The husband/chauffer was Louis KIRK and he liked to do tricks with a lariat. When Mrs. COLEMAN was ready to go to Colorado, Louis would chauffer her there and when she was ready to return to Oklahoma, he would go pick her up again and bring her back. Some of Ina’s and Louis’ kids also worked at the Coleman when they were young. My father-in-law said all three of the girls worked there but he wasn’t sure about the boys.
Ina Virginia PAGE was born in 1925 in Hartville, Wright County, Missouri, to George Benjamin and Ina Jane (CAWYER) PAGE. Ina was my father-in-law’s maternal aunt.
Beautiful, isn’t she? She married Louis KIRK around 1943. They lived in Miami, Ottawa County, Oklahoma. According to the 1950 US Federal Census, at least one of the sons, Louis Dean, did work at the Coleman Theater. He was a ticket taker at the Coleman at age 15. 1950 is the most recent census released so it is doubtful that other records could be found at this point.
In all my searching, I haven’t found anything that officially declares Louis to be the chauffer of Mrs. Jessie COLEMAN. It’s possible this information was never recorded publicly. It’s also possible that it’s in a later census record that hasn’t been released yet or in records that have long since been destroyed. I did note that, like Mrs. COLEMAN, Louis made trips to and from Colorado, so there’s that.
Because I couldn’t find a lot of information, I reached out to a relative (Rae) and asked her for information. The next section is the story she sent me.
Thanks for reminding me about dad’s lariat roping tricks. I truly forgot about them. Dad could rope anything. He did try his best to teach me but I am afraid I could not catch on to anything. My rope would go flat. I just remember he could make perfect circles and large ones at that! It is unfortunate that I do not remember how he learned. I know he lived in Colorado for a while with his first wife, Ollie, and his three boys. Dad also ran the trains as a hobo in his very young and early days. Wish I could say more. Dad’s life almost seems secretive and has many missing pages. He was married prior to Ollie; however, it did not last but a few weeks due to the woman’s character and immoral habits.
Dad worked for Mrs. GL Coleman (her name, Jessie). He was her full-time gardener and chauffeur. Due to his dark colored skin (mostly due to being in the sun all day and being part native Indian) some people thought he was a black man. He supervised several men during his 30 plus years working for the Colemans at their home in Miami Oklahoma. I remember going with dad and Mrs. Coleman to the Tulsa airport together. I was sitting in the back with her as dad drove quietly to Tulsa. He looked so handsome in his Chauffeur’s uniform and cap.
Two of my brothers helped him at times in the yard, working side-by-side with dad. My eldest brother also had his son help on occasions. Mom worked as a housekeeper for quite a while, helping the aging maids do their work. When I turned 14, I lived in the home as a companion to Mrs. Coleman. When she came home from vacation, she found me sleeping in the maids’ quarters and asked them to move me to Ann’s room (her daughter’s room). It was a surprise to us all. This lasted about six months while she was there. We would play Chinese checkers at night in her bedroom sunroom. I took breakfast with her before dad would take me to school. After Mrs. Coleman left for the summer, I was asked to stay with the maid and help her out. I will never forget the yellow cakes she made with creamed topping.
Dad told stories about Bing Crosby and Bob Hope staying with the Colemans. He would drive them to and from the airports. Dad worked hard, keeping the grounds up, the horse stalls and the pool kept in good condition. His gardens were outstanding. Dad would work from early morning until late every day. His pay was just enough to pay the bills and provide food on the table. When Mrs. Coleman passed a few months prior to dad, we discovered dad was in the Will. Unfortunately, before the Will could settle, dad passed away June 1979. Mother did receive a small amount of money from the Will in dad’s place. It was not much, but it helped mom out at the time.
I must say even after Jessie passed; we remembered in the Coleman’s Christmas Card list. I only knew them as good people that never treated us like we were less than they were.
Dad bought a couple of their cars from them, making payments, of course. So, we had nice cars for a while. The Cadillac was a black beast of a thing. We liked it.
I believe both my sisters worked at the Coleman Theater in reception and concession. I know sis Dian did. I do not remember how long and they are no longer here to ask. In fact, I am the only one left from our joined family. My niece worked for Jessie’s daughter for a while, but I do not know that story.
Seriously wish I had listened more to my parents when I was young. I know my dad loved his job and was loyal and faithful to his employers.
My father-in-law lived in the Picher-Cardin area when he was young. I snapped a couple of photos of him while we were on our trip. They’re your bonus for today.
I highly recommend gathering up your people and taking a road trip. I ended up getting road trips with both my in-laws and my parents this weekend. It was good. Wishing you a wonderful week.
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives blog
We finish with the bayonet.
The motto of the Doughboys who fought in the Polar Bear Expedition of the 339th in North Russia.
It’s 0300 on 1 April 1919. My company – Company E – is stationed near Arkhangelsk, Russia. Temperatures are frigid. The snow is waist deep. It’s a new moon. I can barely see in front of my face but I know they’re coming. I can hear them. The Bolos – Bolsheviks – aim to kill us, one way or another. They’ll begin shooting at us soon. I can feel it. I pray. I think of Fred BRUMM in Company H. Are they attacking him, too? I pray for him as well. I pray for all the Detroit boys. And then it happens. At 0330…a frontal bayonet assault on the blockhouses! God help us!
An imagined scenario that depicts Otto MOELLER on 1 April 1919.
On 1 April 1919 at 0330 in the vast nothingness of Arkhangelsk, Russia, just below the Arctic Circle, Otto MOELLER battled the Bolsheviks in a war that seemingly would not end for his unit. Armistice had already been signed in late 1918 but here he was – along with the rest of the 339th – still in battle against the Bolsheviks in North Russia and for what? The ‘why’ was never clear. No end goal, no consistent mission, no clear motive. Even after he returned to the United States he would never really know why they continued on in Russia.
I’ll be posting a full blog post about Otto this coming week and I’ll include information about Fred BRUMM who was in the 339th with Otto, but in Company H. For today, I just wanted to set the scene for you for Otto’s April 1st in 1919. Happy April 1st to you. Stay tuned. You won’t want to miss Otto’s and Fred’s experience in North Russia.
This week I’m writing about my husband’s paternal STORM family. Although there were STORM families in the Poconos area, I haven’t been able to connect them to Bart’s family. In any case, they were on my list to research because there were STORM descendants in Pennsylvania at some point. While doing a quick survey of what the libraries had on the STORM family, I found a wonderful book called Old Dirck’s Book that had a lot of relevant family history in it for us. Today I’m writing about my husband’s 10th great grandfather, Dirck Gorris STORM. This is an old Dutch line. The line of descent goes like this: Dirck Gorris STORM to Dirck’s son Gregoris, to Gregoris’ son Thomas, to Thomas’ son Abraham, to Abraham’s daughter Rebecca. Rebecca STORM married Peter DEWITT. The line continues from Rebecca’s son John DEWITT, to John’s son Richard, to Richard’s son Frances Milo, to Frances’ son Milo Greenwood, to Milo‘s daughter Lucille. Lucille is my husband’s paternal great-grandmother.
One of my early research locations in Pennsylvania was the Monroe County Historical Association in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. They had a lot of information about our Pennsylvania lines and I spent quite a bit of my time there. I found an old book on their shelves called Old Dirck’s Book. It traces Dirck STORM’s line from the “earliest recorded date” down through my husband’s Thomas STORM listed above. Here is one of the first pages of the book. Our Thomas is #11.
This old book has some wonderful maps in it. This one being one of them:
I learned from the book that Bart’s STORM family were Vikings in the earliest generations.1 Very cool!
The STORM and MONTFOORT armorials:
Old Dirck was born shortly after his father returned from war with the Spaniards. The year was 1630.1 Old Dirck was the fifth (in a row) in a direct line of STORM men to hold the name Dirck. I’m guessing this is why he has the nickname of “Old Dirck”, to differentiate him from the other Dirck STORM men. Dirck was born in his mother Deliana ‘s hometown of Leyden, Netherlands where his father was elected to the Leyden City Council after he returned from the war with Spain.1
Life was good for Old Dirck growing up in the Netherlands. He chose a mercantile/trade career with his uncle as his life’s occupation and he was good at it. I’m sure the fact that Holland was in a depression factored into his decision to take up the family business but also, it was the only job available to him because of the economic depression and he was fortunate to have it. In 1655, Old Dirck married Maria VAN MONTFOORT, a hometown girl from Leyden and from a good family. They had a couple of children and by then, things had worsened in Leyden. Economic conditions were bad and Protestants were being driven out of Leyden as well. The author of Old Dirck’s Book states that families immigrating from Leyden to America at this point in time were immigrating to find better economic conditions rather than for freedom of religion but he also maintains that both were an issue in Leyden. Whether it was economics or religion, the Dutch founded the West Indie Company and began emigrating.1
By 1660, the economic downturn was so bad that Old Dirck’s uncle started closing down stores and Old Dirck found himself suddenly unemployed during an economic downturn. His uncle was able to pull through and get him a job as a Town Clerk in a nearby town though. The location was less than optimal and the pay was dismal and soon the family found themselves looking for a different opportunity. At about this time the West Indie Company’s Nieuw Nederland colony in America was beginning to show signs of prosperity. After 1 1/2 years in Osch as a Town Clerk, Old Dirck called it quits. Old Dirck and his family returned to Leyden to say goodbye to their families there and then they set sail for Nieuw Nederland colony in America. They sailed on the ship De Vos (translates to ‘The Fox’) on 31 August 1662 from Amsterdam, Holland.1 After 9 generations, the STORMS were leaving Holland. As it turns out, out of all the STORM brothers and sisters, only Old Dirck’s line survived.1 That gamble on emigrating to America paid off for all of us.
(Side note for researchers: Not all researchers agree that Old Dirck was the same as the Dirck STORM from Osch. See documents at Findagrave.com.2 I read through what documents were available to me and made the best decisions I could as to which information to include or exclude.)
The passenger list of the ship De Vos showed Dirck STORM “from the Mayory of Bosch” (in the Province of Utrecht, Holland, according to Get NJ website; Dirck was 32 years old at this time); his wife “Mrs. Dirck” (Maria VAN MONTFOORT STORM), and their sons “Child Dirck” (Gregoris, 6 years old), “Child Dirck” (Peter, 4 years old), and “Child Dirck” (David, 1 1/4 years old).4 Maria was pregnant with the couple’s 4th child as they journeyed from Holland to America. It’s presumed she lost the baby while aboard the ship because the baby is never recorded as a passenger on the ship and is never in any subsequent records of the family. Researchers have recorded the baby as a female child.5
Other interesting passengers of note on the ship for that voyage were the ACKERMAN family, said to best friends with the STORM family. Ammerens CLASEN, the sister of Tjerck Claesen DeWIT (Bart’s paternal 10th great grandfather). There is possibly one other CLAESEN sibling and possibly a DeWITT family member on board the ship but I did not take the time to verify these last two relationships.4
I wish I could convey to you how tiny the ships were on which these emigrants sailed to America. The book gives a decent description but until you’ve stepped onto a ship like what these people sailed on, you will never understand the courage it took to get here.
Today, a very small freighter is 5,000 tons; a small liner, 15,000; some – the great leviathans- top 80,000….
The Mayflower of the Pilgrims was only 180 tons…”Santa Maria”…100 tons; “Nina” and “Pinta”, each 60.
Old Dirck’s Book.1
180 tons at most on the vast ocean. It gives me shivers just thinking about it! If my family had depended on me to emigrate on a “ship” like that we’d still be in a foreign country!! They were on little sailboats basically. But they made it!
As they were nearing land in their new country on 14 November 1662,6 the white beaches of New Jersey and Long Island came into view. The narrow strand of Sandy Hook led into the Nieuw Amsterdam harbor where they would finally land. On the starboard side was “Langh Eylandt” – better known today as Long Island. Upon arriving, Old Dirck abandoned the heraldic arms of his family and chose a new personal seal.1 A brand new start in a brand new country. That appeals to me. I love his spirit!
He eliminated the fishes…and substituted a storm-tossed ship at sea…borne on a shield similar to the one in the family’s ancient coat-of-arms, topped by a helmet and a pair of wings…Dirck took for his motto an old Dutch word “Vertrouwt” which means “Have Trust”.
Old Dirck’s Book.1
Despite being one of the “earliest of American scholars”,7 Old Dirck had a difficult start in the new country and he bounced around Nieuw Amsterdam (the present-day area of New York City)8 for awhile. When Old Dirck first arrived in Nieuw Amsterdam, he rented a house owned by Elizabeth VAN DRIESSEN. He had considerable trouble finding work and was unable to pay the rent for the house so after 2 years, he moved out (in 1665). He moved to a less expensive home on Beaver Street where he opened a tavern.9 (See the yellow circle on the map below.)
Mrs. VAN DRIESSEN claimed he moved out “by stealth” and she sued him for back rent. Unfortunately for Old Dirck, the tavern wasn’t enough to provide for his family either. However, Carel DE BEVOISE, someone who was an old family friend from Old Dirck’s days back in Holland, offered Old Dirck a job in 1669 as the Assistant Town Clerk in a little town called Breuckelen (better known to you as the present-day borough of Brooklyn). Old Dirck took the offer and moved his growing family to Breuckelen. Less than a year later, Old Dirck’s good friend Carel died and Old Dirck took over the Town Clerk job that Carel had before he passed away. Old Dirck took over the Town Clerk position on 15 December 1669. While he was Town Clerk, he bought a farm at Bedford and then another farm at Nieuw Lots. He moved to Nieuw Lots in 1677 and became Town Clerk of nearby Flakbosch (now known as Flatbush).9 While in Nieuw Lots he also taught the young Dutch children in a little log cabin for four years.10 You can see these three towns on the map below along with two other places of importance to Old Dirck that are circled in red.
By 1691, Long Island was becoming too anglicized for the STORM families. Old Dirck’s children were grown and living on their own. That year he was invited to go to the newly formed Orange County, New York as the County Secretary and Clerk of the Courts. He accepted the invitation and, at age 61, he hopped in a canoe, crossed the East River, went around the tip of Manhattan, and up the Hudson River to Orange County.9
Old Dirck took office in a log courthouse at Tappan, New York, in the forest on Sparkill Creek. He stayed there until 1703 when he retired at age 73. Meanwhile, after Dirck took the job at Tappan the majority of his children (including Bart’s ancestor, Gregoris) moved to the opposite side of the Hudson to Philipse Manor in Westchester County, New York, directly across the river from Tappan. This is now the Sleepy Hollow area of New York and also the place where Bart’s family intermarried with the VAN TASSEL family (as in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow because yes- the VAN TASSELs were real and Washington IRVING decided to put one of them in his novel!).9
Retirement didn’t mean that Old Dirck stopped doing things. He chose to live out the remainder of his years with his two younger sons, Peter and David, in Yonkers, New York, rather than with Gregoris in Philipsburg, New York. After his retirement the Dutch Reformed Church in Sleepy Hollow invited Old Dirck to compile their records and he accepted.9 (One newspaper article states that Old Dirck was the first Parish Clerk at the Sleepy Hollow church and was keeping church records as early as 1697.11) The records were written in Dutch. “The First Record Book” was published on 3 November 1715 when Old Dirck was 85 years old. On 17 April 1716 Old Dirck signed the 8th and last book of records of the church. It was also the last record of Old Dirck. In spite of the many records he had created and maintained in his lifetime, there is no record of Old Dirck’s death. It is assumed he died in 1716 at age 86.9 Gregoris, his son and Bart’s direct ancestor, had died 5 years earlier at the age of 55. Thomas, Bart’s direct ancestor and the son of Gregoris, was 14 years old when he lost his dad and 19 when he lost his grandfather (Old Dirck) thus making Thomas the head of the family at age 19. In between ages 14 and 19, Thomas got married. At age 17, he married Christina VAN WEERT.1
At the end of his life, Old Dirck was buried in the Old Dutch Burial Ground in Sleepy Hollow, Westchester County, New York.12 You may sometimes see his burial location as Tarrytown because this was the name of the town before it was changed to Sleepy Hollow.13 His son, Gregoris (Bart’s 9th great grandfather), is also buried there in the Old Dutch Burial Ground and has a shared stone with his father, Old Dirck.14
Thomas (Old Dirck’s grandson and Gregoris’ son and Bart’s 8th great grandfather) is buried at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery nearby.16
Thomas’ son Abraham (Bart’s 7th great grandfather) also lived in Tarrytown (aka Sleepy Hollow) and Abraham’s daughter Rebecca STORM DEWITT lived in Tarrytown for a time as well.5
I highly recommend a trip to Sleepy Hollow, New York, if you can swing it. It’s on my bucket list for sure! You can visit the Old Dutch Church and Burial Ground as well as the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. They’re right next to each other. If you can’t go there, you can look online. You can find information at the Visit Sleepy Hollow website.17 You can also do an internet search for Old Dutch Church videos and Sleepy Hollow walking tour videos. There are some good videos out there that will give you a good idea of what the terrain and town look like. If you do get to go, do some pre-trip research. There are preserved properties that are important to the STORM family history that you can tour. You wouldn’t want to miss it! Plus there’s an entire town named for our STORM family – Stormville, New York!
I hope you’ve enjoyed learning about Old Dirck STORM. Every time I say his name I think of Bart’s Aunt Jean who always called our son (Derek) ‘Dirk’. I guess since Dirck translates to Derek she got it mostly right. Enjoy the final day of your weekend and remember to love your people.
Until next time,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives blog
Note to reader: If you aren’t interested in the puppies you can skip down to the final section called ‘Other Dachshunds I’ve Loved, & Some Humans Too’ for the bit of genealogy in this post.
This week’s theme is ‘branching out’. I’ve done all kinds of stories about my family, husband’s family, grandkids’ families not related to me, friend’s families, famous people’s families – almost anyone is fair game to end up in my Ancestry account or on my blog. In fact, I even helped out on a criminal investigation by utilizing genealogy. You can hear my ‘thank you’ from the podcaster on this episode of Truth & Justice with Bob Ruff. Today though, I want to talk about a different kind of pedigree chart – the kind that belongs to animals.
Our first three purebred dogs came from Minnesota (Sparky – our golden lab), Oklahoma (Bogey – our red Dachshund), and Texas (Ginger – our cream Dachshund). None of them came with papers/registration and that was okay with us because we just wanted pets. I really never gave much thought to how much information comes with a pedigree chart. Sparky was an excellent hunting dog – a good dog with a sweet disposition. Derek brought Bogey home because a friend of ours needed to re-home him. He was a good dog but he went wandering down to our county road one day and someone picked him up and took him from my driveway. I never did find out who took him. We got Ginger when Sparky was an old dog and living on borrowed time.
Now Ginger is old and recently went blind due to SARDS. I wanted her to have a companion so we talked to an old friend of ours recently and got Major Wheeler Scores – a black and tan piebald Dachshund. He was the last puppy left of the last litter my friend will have bred. She’s getting out of the business now.
Unlike Sparky, Bogey, and Ginger, we were able to register Major Wheeler and when I registered him I got a pedigree chart. Once I received the chart I got really excited looking at all of his ancestors’ names and descriptions. I got online and found a couple of sites where people post pedigree charts of their dogs. I started searching for the names of Major Wheeler’s ancestors and started finding generations that were further back than what was on the pedigree chart and I also found photos. I started putting together a photo-pedigree chart for Major Wheeler that included all the photos I could find online or acquire from my friend. So today, you get to learn a little about Major Wheeler’s ancestry.
I won’t go through Major Wheeler’s entire genealogy but I did have a few pleasant surprises in his pedigree so I’ll talk about four of his ancestors. I was able to trace several of his lines quite a ways back – around 15 generations. At 9 generations back he has an American/Canadian/English Champion grandma named Drakesleat Komma MW. A little nod to my DRAKE ancestral line. Drakesleat Komma was born 13 November 1979. Major has quite a few Drakesleat dogs in his ancestry. Drakesleat Dachshunds are Miniature Wirehaired Dachshunds. In looking at their website, I learned that Drake’s Leat is a location in England near Plymouth. On the website the historical significance of the location begins at about the year 1559-1560 – right about the time that Thomas PERCY from my previous post was born. Not to mention, the Drakesleat line leads to Major’s ancestor, Monteagle Warpaint. Funny how last week I was writing about Thomas PERCY and the Monteagle Letter and this week we’re right back in that time period with a familiar name but a completely different context. I’m of the opinion there are no coincidences. Everything connects. Everything has meaning – even if we choose not to see the meaning or to call it a ‘coincidence’ or ‘accident’. No matter what you call it, I still have a picture for you though. Here’s Drakesleat Komma.
If I recall correctly, my senior class chose Bad to the Bone as our class song. So Major’s Grand Champion/Champion great-grandfather’s name caught my eye as well. Bad T’ Th’ Bone is a direct descendant of Drakesleat Komma and he answers to ‘George’. Here’s his photo:
My husband’s favorite book series in high school was The Lord of the Rings trilogy. In Major Wheeler’s 10th generation he has an American Champion great-grandpa named Hammeister Hobbit. Here is Hammeister Hobbit in a photo I found on a Google search from a now-defunct page called The Dachshund History Online Project.
One last AKC Champion doggie. We managed to accidentally incorporate a piece of one of Major Wheeler’s ancestors’ names into his name. Eight generations back, Major Wheeler had a great-grandfather named EJ’s Big Wheel at Prelude MW. EJ’s Big Wheel at Prelude answered to ‘Willie’. Willie was born on 20 October 1993. He was the result of a joint effort of a well-established breeder – Emma Jean Stephenson of EJ’s Dachshunds – and a breeder that EJ mentored – Prelude Farm and Kennel. I found Willie’s photo on the Prelude website.
Every dog has a story behind his or her name. My husband’s idea was to name him something that related to my business name – Honeysuckle Farm. I liked the idea but Major was no ‘Honeysuckle’! We struggled for a while with what to name him and finally decided on ‘Major Wheeler’ which is a variety of Honeysuckle. It just so happens that my husband and I also each have a ‘WHEELER’ ancestral line. So it seemed to fit and he answered to it. We hope to let him sire a couple of litters in a few years before we have him neutered. I’m looking forward to seeing what his puppies look like. One note about Major. He has this one ear that’s so funny. We love that ear. I jokingly say that every ancestor he ever had came out on that one ear. What do you think:
At the point that we got Bogey, I hadn’t had a Dachshund since I was a kid and still in school. The Dachshund we had when I was in school was Cinnamon and Cinnamon was the first Dachshund I remember. However, she wasn’t the first I ever had. Mom and Dad like to tell stories about Sweetie, a Dachshund we had when I was very little. Sweetie and I seemed to be arch enemies until she had a litter of puppies and then something shifted and Sweetie and I got along. My mom has always said that a Dachshund is much calmer after a litter of pups. I wish I had pictures of Cinnamon and Sweetie but I haven’t come across any.
An interesting side note. My WHEELER ancestor on my dad’s side was Major John WHEELER (I kid you not. MAJOR WHEELER! I didn’t remember this when we were naming Major Wheeler but it sure worked out well!) Major John WHEELER was my 15th great- grandfather and he was also the immigrant ancestor. He came to America from England. As far as I can tell, John’s grandfather (my 17th great-grandfather) was not involved in the Gunpowder Treason Plot.
Do you remember Thomas BATE in part 1 of the Gunpowder Treason Plot story from last week? His brother was Sir James BATES the Elder (my 11th great-grandfather). James had a descendant named Judith (my 4th great-grandaunt) who was born in 1807 in Georgia. Judith married Reverend Thomas B. WHEELER and this is my mom’s WHEELER connection. This same Reverend Thomas B. WHEELER’s 6th great-grandfather was Thomas WHEELER, brother to my dad’s Major John WHEELER.
Bart’s 11th great-grandfather, Sir Thomas WHEELER the Elder, was the father of Major John and Thomas WHEELER and thus, also my 17th great-grandfather. Who knew a little puppy (and a little blog theme) would lead to all these connections?!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this “branching out” session. I’m looking forward to more discoveries and the next fun blog post. I hope you have a cozy and safe week. Stock up on food and stay safe in the storm that’s coming this week.
Until next time,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives
This blog post celebrates the anniversary of the marriage of Bart’s 3rd great grandparents, Karl August BRUMM and Wilhelmina Ida FISCHER (who went by Mina, pronounced like Mena). They were married on this date (20 January) in 1861. I’ve written about this family here and here.
Before I get into their story I do want to say something about Wilhelmina’s last name. I have found a number of different last names for her. While I think FISCHER is her maiden name, I can’t be 100% sure. I have seen the following last names for her: BRUMM, FISCHER, HOFFMAN, WAGNER, WAHLER/WOLLER, and WISCHMAN. The BRUMM and WISCHMAN surnames are her first and second married names. I’m not sure where the HOFFMAN, WAGNER, and WAHLER/WOLLER names come in but I think FISCHER is her maiden name.
Karl was born on 17 February 1834 in Saxony, Germany. (I’ve offered links for you to learn more about Saxony in this blog post.) Mina was also born in Saxony on 20 September 1838. They married on 20 January 1861 in Netzschkau, Vogtlandkreis, Saxony, Germany. (I would love to provide you with their marriage license or some kind of record but I don’t have one and haven’t been able to locate one. The date I have is one that has been given to me by other researchers.) Here’s a map of the area:
The map above shows the city of Zwickau which is the capital of the district of Zwickau (#1), the town of Mylau where Karl was born (#2), and the town of Netzschkau where Mina was born and where Karl and Mina were married (#3). Karl and Mina lived the first decade or so of their marriage in Germany. While in Germany, they had their children including Pauline, Theresa (Bart’s maternal 2nd great grandmother whom I wrote about here), Charles, Clemens, Emma, Anna, Ida Bertha, Oliver, Clara, Albert, and George. (Researchers and records differ on Albert and George. Some say the boys were born in Germany and some say they were born in Michigan.)
I’m not familiar enough with this family yet to say for sure, but it appears that both Karl and Mina made multiple trips between Germany and the United States. I think possibly I’ve found the 1892 naturalization record for Karl but again, I’m not familiar enough with the family to say for sure. In any case, I did find an interesting story on Ancestry.com. It was posted by Doris Shumaker in 2011. The story goes like this. Clara, the youngest daughter of Karl and Mina, arrived in the United States at age 2. The family settled in Forestville, Sanilac County, Michigan. Before the family arrived though, Karl came over first. He began a bakery and then brought the rest of the family over. That would explain why Karl was not with the family on this Immigrant Passenger List:
There is one story that I learned about the family that I want to share before I end this blog post. About 6 years after their arrival in the U.S., their grandson was shot and killed. Their grandson was Fredrick A. BRUMM. Fred was the son of Karl and Mina’s son, Charles. Fred was a patrolman in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan. He was on patrol when he surprised 3 people who were in the process of robbing a cigar store. Fred was shot in the abdomen and died a week later. He shot one of the robbers twice in the face during the encounter. The three men got away but I believe they were later caught (although I’m not sure since I could only access one of the articles). Here is a copy of the one article I could access on newspapers.com:
I wanted to make sure that this police officer was remembered by all for his sacrifice.
I plan to write more of Karl and Mina’s stories throughout the year as I celebrate and honor their lives on their birth and death dates. I hope you’ll join me for those stories.
Until next time,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives
Heinrich WOLF is Bart’s maternal 3rd great grandfather. Heinrich went by Henry.
Henry immigrated from Prussia in April of 1874. He departed Hamburg, Germany, traveled through Liverpool, England, and on to New York, USA. He brought his son, Ernst, with him. They sailed together on the ship Minerva with Captain BLOHM. The shipping clerk was, once again, M. Otto W. MöLLER. Henry’s residence in Prussia was in Crimmitschau – a place I blogged about last week when talking about other Prussian immigrants in my husband’s family. On the passenger list, Henry gave his occupation as shoemaker (Schuhmacher, in German). Henry was 46 years old and Ernst was only 8.
I’m not completely certain but I think this is the ship Minerva:
This ship was much more difficult to find information about online than the other ship was. If this really was the ship they came over on it seems awfully small to take out on the ocean.
I am certain that this next piece of information really is the ship Minerva that the WOLF’s sailed on:
This information comes from The Ships List website.
Heinrich (who went by Henry) and Ernst (who went by Ernest) came to American in April of 1874. If you remember back to last week, Henry’s wife Christiana (who went by Sophia) and two of their children- Charles (who went by Carl) and Ferdinand (who went by Fred) made the journey later that same year in October.
It would be natural to assume that Henry came over first to get a place ready for the family although I’m not sure why he would bring the youngest son with him as opposed to the oldest who could help clear land and build a home. In any case, I believe Henry came over with a group called Colony Saxonia. I’m still trying to find out information about Colony Saxonia but here’s a snippet from the Joint Documents from the State of Michigan for the Year 1872, Vol. II:
This was a group approved by the government that recruited Germans to come to Michigan. Once here, the German families were given the opportunity to buy 40 acre pieces of land from the group. This land was in Forestville, Sanilac County, Michigan. Many Germans did move into Sanilac County, Michigan but many decided to stay in the Detroit area where they first disembarked in Michigan.
You can read a little more about Colony Saxonia here and here.
I still don’t know much about Henry and Christiana but just the little bit I’ve learned while searching today is more than I knew before. I hope you’ve enjoyed learning a little more about the immigration experience for these Michigan ancestors. I know I’ve enjoyed letting you in on a little more of their story. Uncle Bob sent me some photographs but I’m going to save those for the next few posts I write about Henry and Christiana later this year.
Until tomorrow,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives
