Important New URL Announcement

Hi everyone,
I know I have been rather quiet on the blog recently and I wanted to let you know I haven't disappeared!  I have been thinking a lot about my blogs, my future, my interests, etc. and have figured out where I really want to take this blog.  I am going to merge this with my library blog.  I am keeping the library blog name Amanda's Athenæum so that I can expand my focus beyond just genealogy to my other interests of cultural heritage, libraries, historical societies, museums, travel (particularly in relation to history and culture) and reading (again mostly in relation to history and culture), among other things.

I am very excited about this change and to really expand what I can post on and the amount of posts I do.  I hope you will continue to follow me, but understand if you decide not to do to the expanded nature of the blog.  I also am changing my host to WordPress, as they offer some features I am very excited for.  My blog will now be at: http://amandasathenaeum.wordpress.com  All of my old posts from this blog will be accessible there.

I will begin updating it there tomorrow.  Thank you and I am sorry for the inconvenience of updating your blog reader.
Amanda

1847 - 1849 New York State Vital Records

Fellow New York State researchers, this was posted yesterday on the New Horizons Genealogy Blog:
"New York State enacted a law in 1847 to require school districts to record Vital Records including birth, marriage and death records within their districts. However, some areas completely ignored the law and others adhered to it, but generally did not keep complete records, even for the years that were recorded. Unfortinately this law was terminated in 1849. 

New Horizons Genealogy is working on locating and transcribing these records and posting them to our website. We have also linked to most of these vital records found on other websites in an attempt to make this the most complete of a collection as possible.

These 1847 - 1849 New York State Vital Records may be found here: 1847 - 1849 New York State Vital Records

This is an on going project and we are adding new records every week, so if you don't find what you are looking for, keep checking back."

SNGF: Matrilineal Line

This weeks Saturday Night Genealogy Fun for Mother's Day from Randy at Genea-Musings.


1) List your matrilineal line - your mother, her mother, etc. back to the first identifiable mother. Note: this line is how your mitochondrial DNA was passed to you!

2) Tell us if you have had your mitochondrial DNA tested, and if so, which Haplogroup you are in.

3) Post your responses on your own blog post, in Comments to this blog post, or in a Note or status line on Facebook.


1. Mine is:

1. Me, Amanda
2. My Mom
3. My Grandma
4. Vera Julia Gress (1900 - 1976)
5. Elizabeth Fink (1867 - 1957)
6. Barbara Fleeman (1846 - 1929)
7. Barbara Griss (1824 - 1870)

2. I have not done this, but am looking into it.

Happy Mother's Day

My baptism with my mom and both grandma's (and my dad and both grandpa's)

Happy Mother's Day!  Particularly to my mom, grandma's, almost-mother-in-law, Godmother's and stepmother.  I am blessed with a lot of moms:-)

ProGen - Month 3 Complete

It is hard to believe I have finished 3 months of ProGen.  Month 3 was pretty awesome -  we cataloged our genealogy books and made a plan to purchase the ones we want but do not yet own.  I used goodreads, as I have been adding my books to this since I used the site for a project last semester.  My books are located here under genealogy.  The ones marked wishlist I do not yet own.

My favorite part this month was our online discussion on copyright.  This is something very big in my MSLIS program, for obvious reasons.  I have at least one lecture on it a semester and the professors are very big on correct source citation.

Month 4 starts to get us into much more difficult projects, beginning with report writing.  This is one of my the items I wish to improve on, so I am looking forward to the work and the comments I receive.  Update in June:-)

Fantastic Find Friday - Marcantonio Casillo Birth Record

Not only is this a Fantastic Find Friday, it is also my 200th post:-)  My first foray into foreign language records was to try and find my gg grandfathers Italian birth record.  In addition to getting incredibly lucky that the woman volunteering at the FHC was an expert in Italian records, the record was also exactly where it should be!  That doesn't happen too often, especially when dealing with birth records.  I was also excited when, written in the margins, was a note telling his marriage date and the town it occurred in.  I am told this happens rather often in Italian records, but I had never heard of it before.  I wish other cultures did that as well;-)

(Sorry for the blurry photos)

Roccaromana, Caserta, Italy, "Anno 1868 Comune di Roccaromana Provincia di Terra di Larone Registro dell e Nascita Ufficio," (Archivio di Stato, Caserta, e nel Tribunale di Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Caserta), 1868 Nascita, Marcantonio Maria Casillo; FHL microfilm 1,801,953, item 2.

Wordless Wednesday: Summer is Coming!

A view of the North Sea (the dark blue in the middle of the picture) at the beach in St. Peter-Ording, Germany.  It was a beautiful day at the beach, it is finally getting in the 60's here - hopefully summer will come soon! For an even better view, check out their live webcam:-)

Tombstone(less) Tuesday - Adam Fleeman

Adam Fleeman, Abt. 1820 - 25 Nov 1889

He is to the left of the tombstones in the foreground, as he has no tombstone.

Fantastic Find Friday - Casillo Passenger List

My great-great aunt Lu wrote to my Grandpa Casell back when he started doing genealogy research and included that when she got her passport, the passport office found the passenger list of her father's (Marcantonio Casillo) first trip to the US with his father Pietro when Marcantonio was 17.  Over the years I have tried to find this passenger list and never managed to, wondering if it was an incorrect family legend.  Then I searched for Pietro on Ancestry.com and there it was!  It was so exciting to prove this piece of family history.

"New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," online images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 Apr 2010), manifest, Elysia, 11 May 1887, M. Casillo, Year: 1887; Arrival: New York, United States; Microfilm serial: M237; Microfilm roll: M237_506; Line: 16; List number: 540.

Buffalo Library Local History Subject Guide

The Buffalo and Erie County Public Library Database News Blog announced today the newest subject guide, that of Local History.  It offers databases, community and local links, and library materials.  They also have a genealogy guide that can be used in conjunction with this.

Wordless Wednesday: Amsterdam

Surname Saturday: Passel/Possehl/Persales

Each Saturday this year I am posting one of my surnames, going in alphabetical order.  This weeks surname is Passel, which I have also seen as Possehl and Persales.  The names in red are my direct line ancestors.



1-John Passel b. Abt 1803, , , , Germany
 +Dorothea b. Abt 1813, , , , Germany
|--2-Friedricke Passel b. Abt 1840, , , , Germany
|--2-John Passel b. Abt 1843, , , , Germany
|--2-Sophia Passel b. Jan 1846, , , Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, d. 27 May
|    1928, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
|   +Joseph Gress b. Cal 9 Aug 1841, , , , Germany, d. 18 Feb 1899, Buffalo,
|    Erie, New York, USA
|  |--3-Louisa Gress b. Feb 1867, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
|  |--3-Jacob J. Gress b. 26 Jan 1869, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA, d. 11 Aug
|  |    1932, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
|  |--3-Carolyn M. Gress b. Abt 1871
|  |--3-John Gress b. Abt 1873
|  |--3-Eli Gress b. Abt 1875
|--2-Carl Passel b. Abt 1852, , , , Germany
|--2-Line Passel b. Abt 1856, , , , Germany

BallinStadt - Port of Dreams - Part 3

See Part 1 & 2 for the introduction and tour of building 2.

Building 3 offers a reconstruction of a sleeping hall from 1910.  Once the emigrants arrived in Hamburg, this was where they waited for their ship to arrive.  According to the museum, after the long trip the beds here were rather luxurious.

After walking through this room, you arrive in the gift shop.  For 6 Euro I bought a guide to the museum (they are available in German or English), which has a lot of information and many of the fantastic photographs you see at the museum.  I look forward to adding it to my collection of genealogy books when I get home.  There is also a cafe if the tour has made you hungry or thirsty.  I left the last building and walked over to the Elbe, trying to picture the giant steamships that once passed by.

I want to finish this blog series by giving my sincere thanks to Joan at Roots'n'Leaves.  She has been one of my air chair traveler readers and was the person who told me about this museum.  I am so glad, as the idea that they would have an emigration museum here never crossed my mind.  Thank you Joan, this was the most interesting place I have gone to on my trip this far!  Please check out her fantastic blog!

BallinStadt - Port of Dreams - Part 2

For the the introduction to BallinStadt, please look here.

Upon leaving building 1 with ticket in hand I headed to the main exhibition, located in building 2.  The photographs and documents to look at were numerous.  Many items had English explanations, which was very helpful, and there were "telephones" you listened into to hear an "emigrant" tell their story.

I was most interested in those that were near the years my ancestors left Germany.  Hearing of the trials and tribulations faced and the courage shown was amazing

There were a bunch of advertisements from the eighteen and nineteen hundreds on going to America and New York.  I bought a couple postcards featuring these and there are also posters available in the gift shop.

The "ship of dreams" is the next portion of the building.  Questions are on poles on either side of the ship, with answers written on the ship.  My favorite answer to "What are you taking with you?" is hope.  People left their homelands, family, friends, all they had ever known with the hope of a better life in America.  It was not easy.  Even getting to Hamburg from where ever they were from was an adventure.  They then had to wait in the emigration halls until their ship arrived, take a multiple week boat ride across the Atlantic, pass the examinations in New York City and, possibly, take a train to their final destination further inland in America.  We complained over the 7.5 hour flight with 2 layovers.  I cannot even imagine the fortitude and determination these people had.  Hope would be the only way you could survive.  After walking around the boat you enter building 3, which I will talk about in my next post.

BallinStadt - Port of Dreams

As I walked the two blocks from the Veddel S-Bahn stop to the BallinStadt Emigrant Museum in Hamburg, I stopped in from of the first sign and felt tears welling up in my eyes.  As I stared at the boats and other signs along the past to the entrance of emigrant families, it hit me: this is where, in 1859, John and Dorothea Passel and their 5 children, ages 3 - 19 left for a new life in America and where, in 1884, Maria Strassheim Tross took her 6 children, ages 11 months - 9 years, and 3 pieces of baggage and set off to meet relatives in Buffalo, New York.  I was standing in the place where they last saw their homeland of Germany, filled with hope, but nervous about the strange new land they would soon embark upon.

BallinStadt is a set of three reconstructed buildings, located on the Elbe River's Veddel Island, where the Emigrants Halls once sat.  Although what my ancestors would have seen would have been much different, since these buildings were not build until 1896 - 1907, the exhibit has information from 1850 until the present day.  Building number 1, actually the last building you come upon, is the entrance and also holds a multitude of computers with free access to Ancestry.de.  This allow patrons to search for their ancestors in records which include the Hamburg passenger lists.  Being in German, I could not do any research, but I did get a shot of the passenger list with the John Passel family.

I will post part 2 of this, on the main exhibit building, shortly.

Fantastic Find Friday - Peter Berni Passport Application

Fabulous Find Friday is a new meme I am going to do to post some of the records I have found that were either important, helped break down a brick wall or interesting to me. This may also include stories from relatives, items from books I have read or useful websites. If you are interested in joining in on the fantastic-ness, please do and post a comment so I can come look at your find:-)

Peter Berni married my great-aunt, Amelia Casillo. I keep in contact with their granddaughter, my second cousin once removed, who has some amazing photographs she has shared with me. While filling in some gaps in census records on Ancestry over the weekend, I came across his passport application from 1924. I have never before found a passport application for a relative and after I saw what was included on the record, I wish some of my ancestors had traveled.  I particularly love the photograph, the fact that it lists the town he was from in Italy, which had been previously unknown and the affidavit from my g-g grandfather Marco A. Casillo about Amelia's birth certificate.  This is another reason I love cluster genealogy, I would have never found this had I just looked for my direct-line ancestors.

"U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925," database and images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 Apr 2010); Pietro Barne [Peter Berni], no. 452037, issued 30 June 1924; citing Passport Applications, January 2, 1906-March 31, 1925; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M1490, 2740 rolls); General Records of the Department of State, Record Group 59; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Wordless Wednesday - Oude Kerk, Amsterdam

I posted pictures of some tombstones yesterday from the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam.  Here are some photos of the rest of the church.  For more information on the church, visit their website.

ProGen - Month 2 Complete

I loved month two of my ProGen training! We were instructed to think about our educational preparedness and then write up an education plan. I think I knew where I was regarding my professional preparedness. Having never formalized an educational plan though would have kept me relatively stagnant in my skills, as I would not have thought about what I needed or wanted to learn until it something came up that forced me to learn about it. The overall theme of my plan seemed to focus on report writing and learning about records I am not proficient on, such as deeds, German and Italian records. and tax records. I also want to work on the Genealogical Proof Standard more and look into Historiography, which has been discussed recently on the APG list.

My online chats are held at 10pm EST on Mondays, which equates to 4am here in the western part of Europe. I was traveling for Easter that day and planned to attend from the computer at my hostel in The Hague. Unfortunately, this hostel locked their computers up between 9pm-midnight (depending on their mood) and 10am the next day. Even after begging, they were not going to allow me to use them at 4am ("I'll be sleeping, I can't unlock the door..."). I hadn't brought my laptop and my iPod touch was dead, so I sent a frantic and apologetic message to my group. Luckily, the Sunday night group allowed me to join their chat, so I did not miss out on this month. Thank you again to the Sunday night group, you were all so nice and I had a great time at your chat!!!

I am currently working on month 3, which involves the chapter on "The Essential Library." Any month that says I "have" to buy more genealogy books is definitely going to be a good one. I'll give you an update in May!

Tombstone Tuesday - Oude Kerk, Amsterdam

The Oude Kerk (Old Church) is located in Amsterdam's red light district.  The entire floor is made up of gravestones, most containing only a carving of a religious symbol, no name.  The most famous tombstone belongs to Saskia van Uylenburgh, the wife of Rembrandt.  As you can see from the above sign, I was unable to see this due to the renovation work currently being done.  Their website has a fantastic page of the graves in flash, with pictures, inscriptions and who is buried there.  It is available in English.

Surname Saturday: Izzo

Each Saturday this year I am posting one of my surnames, going in alphabetical order.  This weeks surname is Izzo.  The names in red are my direct line ancestors.




Descendants of Peter Izzo
-------------------------
1-Peter Izzo b. , , , , Italy
 +Catherine Donufrio b. , , , , Italy
|--2-Caroline Izzo b. 3 May 1876, Calvi Risorta, Caserta, Campagna, Italy, d. 2
|    Oct 1934, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
    +Marcantonio Maria Casillo b. 11 Jan 1868, Roccaromana, Caserta, Campania,
     Italy, d. 26 Nov 1937, Colden, Erie, New York, USA
   |--3-Amelia Angela Maria Casillo b. 14 Jun 1903, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
   |  
   |--3-Alfredo Marco Casillo b. 28 Jun 1906, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA, d.
   |    25 Jan 1981, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
   |--3-Angela Casillo b. 28 Jun 1906, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
   |--3-Lucia Marian Casillo b. Dec 1910, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA, d.
   |    1993, , , California, USA
   |--3-Clara Casillo b. Abt 1914, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
-------------------------

Google Earth Helps Find an (Ancient) Ancestor

Google Earth Helps Scientists Discover New Species of Early Man according to the post on Mashable today. The new early man species, Australopithecus sediba is most likely a descendent of Australopithecus africanus.

Easter Memories

Growing up, I always spent Easter the same way.  I would wake up very early and go to sunrise Service with my grandmother.  The youth group put on the service each year, and it was always my favorite, very contemporary with a play and upbeat songs.  We would then head to the fellowship hall where there was a small brunch.  Following brunch we went to the 8:30 service put on by the paster and then I went to Sunday School.  After Sunday School I would rush home and my sister and I would search for our Easter baskets.  I never liked searching and wished the Easter bunny just left them out like Santa Claus.  At noon my mom's family would come over for a big brunch with coffee cake, sausage, bacon, scrambled and hard-boiled eggs, toast, coffee and juice.  It was always quite the feast.  Sometimes I would then organize an egg hunt or we would just play.   Near the end of brunch my dad would come get my sister and I and take us to my grandparents.  Dinner usually with them, almost always ham.

This year I will be far from home for Easter, but I will be thinking about these memories and looking forward to attending brunch again next year.  Happy Easter to you and yours!

Outlining April's Tale

In April I plan to:

• Put my Ancestry subscription to use for Acquard records
• Visit BallinStadt, a museum and research facility on emigration from Hamburg.  Thank you to Joan of Roots'n'Leaves for leaving me a comment about this!
• Complete the NGS online course Working With Deeds
• Finish month two of ProGen and do assignments for month 3
• Put information from the England BMDs I received into my genealogy program and write a blog post on them
• Catch up on my Google Reader posts
• Write blog posts on interesting topics from classes such as Intercultural Communication, Web Usability, Long Term Preservation and Library Services for Older Adults
• Visit Hamburg family history centers to see if they have films I need for my German ancestry

Watch for postings on these and other topics this month:-)

A Tale of March's Research

I am constantly amazed by how much I can get done when I am busy, compared to how little when I have a lot of free time.  For the first time in 10 years I am not working, only going to school and have more free time than I know what to do with.  As such, I have fallen behind on blog reading and writing, barely done research and generally just slouched around;-)  The upside to this is that I am more relaxed than I have ever been and hope to be moderately productive in my research in April.

In March I:

• Completed NGS online course in Transcribing, Extracting and Abstracting Genealogical Records
• Completed month 1 of the ProGen course and did assignments for month 2
• Received BMD certificates from England which I need to enter into my database
• Read Roots by Alex Haley.  After having it on my shelf for years, I have finally read the book that launched many genealogists hobby
• Joined Ancestry.com for 3 months on the World membership.  Did a little research into census records for my father's family

Census Day 2010

It is Census Day 2010!  Make sure you fill out and mail in your census form so you can be counted and future generations can find you.  This is the first census I am in, that I am not at my parents house, so having this is very exciting.  Before you mail it in, make a copy so that your descendants do not have to wait until 2082 to see it.

Tombstone Tuesday - Miniatur Wunderland

One of the coolest places I have been in Hamburg is Miniatur Wunderland.  They even have a cemetery, complete with a funeral and a crypt with caskets and ghosts.  

Tombstone Tuesday - Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

The crypt where Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach (son of J.S. Bach) at St. Michael's in Hamburg, Germany.  At one point, he was the music director of the church.  When we visited they were setting up for a party atop all the graves.  Below see the bar, situated on top of other peoples crypts.  Maybe a party for genealogists?

Fearless Females: Let's Do Lunch!

March 16 — If you could have lunch (or another meal) with any female family member (living or dead) or any famous female who would it be and why?  Where would you go?  What would you eat?


This is a tremendously easy one for me.  I would have lunch with my great grandmother Anna May Sanderson Whitehead.  We could go where ever she wanted as long as she answered my questions about who she really was and, if I am correct in my assumptions, why she left her family in Canada and started a new one in the US. Having lunch with her may be the only way I ever find out for sure about her life.


Fearless Female prompt from Lisa Alzo at The Accidental Genealogist

A Tribute to Lillian Eichhorn Casell

The only known photo of my great-grandmother, Lillian L. Eichhorn

The Chronology of her life is available here

The first record of Lillian L. Eichhorn's life is a birth certificate in Buffalo, NY for F. Eichhorn.  No first name name, just an "F" for female, indicating that a new child had come into the world on 22 December 1908, an early Christmas present.  Lillian was the fifth child and fifth daughter born to William Fred Eichhorn and Augusta Tross.  If the weather was anything like it is today, 22 December was cold and snowy, but in the excitement of a new baby, I imagine no one minded.

Six years later, the Eichhorn's would welcome their sixth and final child, a boy, William Tross Eichhorn into the family.  Life must have been fun for this young family.  William worked for the railroad, while Augusta took care of the home which they were able to buy while Lillian was still young.  There were aunts, uncles, cousins and grandmothers around to be with.

While in high school Lillian would meet Alfred Marco Casell, three years her senior and son of Italian immigrants.  It is hard to say what her German parents thought of him, but they married when she was just 16.  Like her father, Alfred too worked for the railroad and with the money he made they rented a house on Sherman Street in Buffalo.

Between 1928 and 1935 they had four children, first a girl, followed by three boys.  I always imagine the promise that life had for them.  Then, at 2:45 pm, 19 December 1938, just three days before her 30th birthday, Lillian died of lobar pneumonia at their home on Division Street.  Suddenly, everything changed for Lillian's young family.  Lillian was buried on her 30th birthday in Acadia Park Cemetery, North Tonawanda, NY.  Her young widow could not afford a plot, so her brother-in-law let them have a space in the grave site he had purchased.

Life was not easy for the family she left.  Her mother, Augusta, was so overcome with grief, she died of a broken heart a mere 13 days later, on New Year's day 1939.  Alfred, unable to take care of four young children and work, put them into an orphanage in October of 1939, where they stayed for nearly 8 years.
Alfred died in 1981, never remarrying.  His eldest son, Robert and his wife had purchased four plots in Acadia Cemetery some years earlier, and placed Alfred in one of them.  Until that time, when a cemetery worker happened to mention it, neither Robert, nor any of his siblings knew that that was also where their mother had been buried.  In fact, standing on Alfred's grave, one can see to where Lillian is buried and it is just a short walk.  Using part of their inheritance, the four siblings placed a marker on their mother's grave site, marking her place and short life for those visit there.

Written for the Carnival of Genealogy: A Tribute to Women

Timeline: Lillian Eichhorn Casell

The chronology of my great-grandmother Lillian Eichhorn Casell's life:

22 Dec 1908: Lillian is born in Buffalo, Erie, NY to William Eichhorn and Augusta Tross
10 Apr 1914: Lillian's brother William Tross Eichhorn in Buffalo, NY
18 Feb 1921: Lillian's grandmother Maria Strassheim Tross dies in Buffalo, NY
11 Jul 1925: Lillian marries Alfred Marco Casell in Buffalo, NY
1928 - 1935: Lillian and Alfred have 4 children, 1 girl and 3 boys, in Buffalo, NY (2 are still living, hence no names and dates)
9 Mar 1931: Lillian's father William Eichhorn dies in Buffalo, NY
2 Oct 1934: Alfred's mother Caroline Izzo dies in Buffalo, NY
9 Aug 1936: Lillian's grandmother Katherine Weiss Eichhorn Gorndt dies in Buffalo, NY
26 Nov 1937: Alfred's father Marcantonio Casillo dies in Colden, Erie, NY
19 Dec 1938: Lillian dies of Lobar Pneumonia in Buffalo, NY
22 Dec 1938: Lillian is buried at Acacia Park Cemetery, North Tonawanda, Niagara, NY

Intercultural Communication - Part 1

My first class in Hamburg is a week long workshop on Intercultural Communication which began today.  Prior to taking the class today, I had been thinking about what it means to be an American, how I view the world and how the world, though primarily Germany, views me.  I had not thought that this class would have me thinking so very much about genealogy.  Surprisingly, intercultural communication plays a huge role in genealogy and history and as family historians, we should be thinking about it when looking at our ancestors.

What is culture?  According to the forth definition on dictionary.com it is the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group."  In short, it is how people see the world and why they act the way they do.  One subculture would be genealogists.  The genealogists I have met all seem to have a deep reverence for family, enjoy meeting new people, are curious, enjoy history and are dedicated, among other things.

According to the iceberg model of cultural elements our professor gave us, basic things such as food, clothing, language and behaviors are easy to see, but they are only the tip, the small portion above the water.  Other things like values, beliefs, assumptions, perceptions and ways of communicating are below the surface, harder to see and understand.  An excellent image of the iceberg model is shown here.

Why is this of use to us as we search for our ancestors?  We need to remember that our ancestors lived n different cultures than we do today.  This is particularly true if you find an event you disagree with or do not like.  How many genealogists have had family members not give them the whole story because of how they judge an event in the past?  Before we judge, it is tremendously important to remember that how they acted was a product of their time and culture.  Imagine what you ancestors would think of some of the things you do today!  By studying the culture of a time and place, we can better understand the motivations of our ancestors and have a better overall picture of their lives.

Tomorrow I will discuss how my time here is making me look at stereotypes and the effect they may have on genealogical research.

Fearless Females: 6 Word Tribute

To my mom: Strong, loving, my cheerleader, my hero.

Fearless Female prompt from Lisa Alzo at The Accidental Genealogist

Hohenstaufen, Germany

According to the marriage record of Charles Herman Thorn and Catherine Wise in Chippewa, Ontario, Canada, Cathrine was born in Hohahstrefen, Wurtemburg Kingdom, Germany.  The correct spelling for this town is Hohenstaufen and it is located in the Baden-Württemberg part of present day Germany.

In 1206, Hohenstaufen was "mentioned"1.  A small village, its current population being 1300 residents2, it is most well-known for the large mountain of the same name, for which the city sits at its southern base.  Additionally, the ruin of Hohenstaufen Castle, sits atop the mountain.  Hohenstaufen Castle was build in approximately 10703.  The castle was destroyed in 1525 in the Peasants War4.  Currently, it is a German national monument.  "The year 1971 marked a turning point, when it was incorporated as part of the overall administrative location, with the exception of the farms in Ottenbacher valley in the "city of Göppingen Hohenstaufen""5.

If you are interested in researching Hohenstaufen, the FHC hastheir church records microfilmed from 1558 to 1897.  Also, Kathy Brandt Bonnell has created a website that features much information from town records.

This was written for the March Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy.

Image used with Creative Commons rights as follows: (((Information | Description = ((en | The village of Hohenstaufen (Göppingen) and the same mountain, seen from Aasrücken)) | Source = own work | Date = 2006-06-11 | Author = M. Rust | Permission = own work | other_versions =)))

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Your Gratitude Story

This weeks Saturday Night Genealogy Fun by Randy is:
* Read Megan Smolenyak's article 120 Years of Smolenyaks in America: A Note of Gratitude from a Great-Granddaughter

* Do you have an ancestor like Megan's great-grandfather that was the first one to come to America (or your present country of residence) that you would like to thank?

* If so, tell us about that ancestor - and why you are thankful for their effort.


Maria Strassheim Tross, on the 24 June 1884, you arrived in New York City and then traveled to Buffalo from Eberstardt, Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany with 6 children, all under the age of 10, including an infant, and only 3 pieces of baggage.  I believe your husband had died in the prior few months and yet you still set out to a new country, relatively alone.  I cannot even imagine doing something like that, even in todays world of quick airplanes.  Thank you great-great-great grandmother Tross, for being such an incredible, strong woman.

Fearless Females: In the News

Publish Post

From an unknown Buffalo, NY newspaper.  Ironic that one her daughters married a Democrat who was very politically involved and town supervisor a couple times.  Vera (Mrs. William H.) Whitehead was my great-grandmother.


Fearless Female prompt from Lisa Alzo at The Accidental Genealogist

ProGen - Month 1 Complete

As a newly minted member of the ProGen Study Group community (in group #6), I am now finished with month number one and have begun the readings for month number 2.  Month 1 focused on our genealogical resume, which was rather daunting.  I have namely done self-training, through reading, some online lessons and a lot of trial and error.  I have always learned best by going to the library and reading books and that is how I approached genealogy.  If there is a genealogy book in the Syracuse public library system, you can bet I read it or have it on my "to request" list.  In the future, I am going to try to attend more workshops and conferences to supplement my reading.  Everyone else seems much more experienced, but they are all very friendly and offer a lot of excellent advice!  I am looking forward to strengthening my skills as a genealogist through this program over the next 19 months.

I finally broke down...

And got an Ancestry.com subscription.  In the past I have always used the library version, but being so far from home for so long, I thought getting the subscription would be a good idea.  So I now have a 3 month world subscription, which is already paying off in relation to some English parish register information.

I have also decided I should start looking into my fathers side of the family, even though I have a great aunt and great uncle who have already done a lot of it.  n particular I am going to work on the Karpinski family, my paternal grandfather's mother's family, as this one has not been searched very far back.  I have already found some promising leads on Franciszek Karpinski (my great-great grandfather) and a new cousin!

Surname Saturday: Hayman

Each Saturday this year I am posting one of my surnames, going in alphabetical order.  This weeks surname is Hayman.  The names in red are my direct line ancestors.



1-William Hayman
 +Anne Killick
|--2-Susanna Hayman bap. 25 Sep 1796, Halstead, Sevenoaks, Kent, England
|--2-Thomas Hayman bap. 10 Jun 1798, Halstead, Sevenoaks, Kent, England, d. 22
|    May 1867, Halstead, Sevenoaks, Kent, England
|   +Susan Whitehead b. Cal 1802, Chelsfield, , Kent, England, d. 6 Apr 1867,
|    Halstead, Sevenoaks, Kent, England
|  |--3-William Hayman b. Abt 1836, Halstead, Sevenoaks, Kent, England, bur. 8
|  |    Jun 1851, Halstead, Sevenoaks, Kent, England
|  |--3-George Hayman b. 1839
|  |--3-Benjamin Hayman b. Abt 1841, Halstead, Sevenoaks, Kent, England
|  |--3-Robert Hayman b. Abt 1843, Halstead, Sevenoaks, Kent, England
|  |--3-Mary Ann Hayman b. 11 Mar 1845, Halstead, Sevenoaks, Kent, England, d.
|  |    16 May 1877, Barton, Wentworth, Ontario, Canada
|  |   +Charles Whitehead b. 10 Oct 1840, Halstead, Sevenoaks, Kent, England,
|  |    d. 12 Oct 1902, Hamilton, Wentworth, Ontario, Canada
|  |  |--4-Benjamin Thomas Whitehead b. 31 Oct 1866, Halstead, Sevenoaks, Kent,
|  |  |    England, d. 11 Apr 1906, Hamilton, Wentworth, Ontario, Canada
|  |  |--4-Joseph Whitehead b. 2 Nov 1869, Halstead, Sevenoaks, Kent, England,
|  |  |    d. 4 Apr 1936, Hamilton, Wentworth, Ontario, Canada
|  |  |--4-Charles William Whitehead b. 12 Jun 1872, Burlington, , Ontario,
|  |  |    Canada, d. 27 Dec 1927, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
|  |  |--4-Rosanna Whitehead b. 5 Jan 1875, Barton, Wentworth, Ontario, Canada,
|  |  |    d. 2 Dec 1924, Hamilton, Wentworth, Ontario, Canada
|  |--3-Harriet Hayman bap. 8 Feb 1829, Halstead, Sevenoaks, Kent, England,
|  |    bur. 30 Mar 1829, Halstead, Sevenoaks, Kent, England
|--2-William Hayman bap. 22 Mar 1801, Halstead, Sevenoaks, Kent, England
-----------------------------

Can You Document 10 Generations?

Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings has written a few posts on the documenting of 10 generations, with yourself as #1.  I have been following his and other blogs on this subject with much interest.  I have not been able to source 10 generations of my tree, yet, but I am probably closer than many genealogists and readers for one simple reason.  I was born relatively recently.

As such, I have two generations, mine and my parents, that others do not have.  To get back 10 generations means I am researching in the early to mid-1700's, not the early to mid-1600's.  My 8th great-grandparents, for example, were born in the late 1700's.  Even at each of their parents being 35 when my ancestor was born puts 2 more generations back at about 1725-1740.

I think many other young genealogists will be able to source a majority of 10 generations (I can on parts of my tree and with a few more years of searching, I will be able to get most if not all of them).  However, for us, 15 generations will be near to impossible, even if, like me, you get duplicate ancestors early on, such as in generation 4...

Tombstone Tuesday - Jewish Museum, Berlin, Germany

According to the plaque next to these tombstones, these were originally in a Jewish cemetery in Spandau.  The oldest stone there is from 1244.  In the middle ages, during a time of Jewish persecution, the stones were taken and used to build the Spandau Citadel.  This was discovered in the 1950s and the stones were salvaged.  These are the oldest remains of Jewish civilization in the Berlin area.

Hello from the Sky

As you read this post, I am flying high above you on my way to Hamburg, Germany.  I have also pre-published a few posts from yesterday until tomorrow, as I will be in and out of wireless access.  I have my genealogy packed (well, saved on my computer), along with numerous magazines and books to keep me occupied.  I also have my flip digital recorder which I will be using to spotlight genealogy in Germany and surrounding countries over the next 5 months.  I hope you will follow along on my journey through German lessons to visiting ancestral villages.

Surname Saturday: Gress

Each Saturday this year I am posting one of my surnames, going in alphabetical order.  This weeks surname is Gress.  The names in red are my direct line ancestors.

1-Joseph GRESS
b: about 1806, , , , Germany
d: 1860, Eden, Erie, New York, USA
+Caroline
b: about 1810, , , Baden, Germany
d: 1870, Eden, Erie, New York, USA
. . . . 2-Margaretha GRESS
        b: about 1834, , , , Germany
. . . . 2-Georg GRESS
        b: about 1837, , , , Germany
. . . . 2-Michael GRESS
        b: about 1841, , , , Germany
. . . . 2-Joseph GRESS
        b: calculated 9 August 1841, , , , Germany
        d: 18 February 1899, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
. . . . +Sophia PASSEL
        b: January 1846, , , Mecklenburg, Germany
        d: 27 May 1928, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
. . . . . . . . 3-Louisa GRESS
                b: February 1867, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
. . . . . . . . +Theodore SCHOULTZ
                b: December 1863, , , New York, USA
. . . . . . . . 3-Jacob J. GRESS
                b: 26 January 1869, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
                d: 11 August 1932, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
. . . . . . . . +Elizabeth L. FINK
                b: 6 July 1867, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
                m: Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
                d: 24 April 1957, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
. . . . . . . . . . . . 4-Chester E. GRESS
                        b: June 1888
. . . . . . . . . . . . 4-May GRESS
                        b: 19 September 1890
                        d: 11 June 1970, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
. . . . . . . . . . . . 4-Walter L. GRESS
                        b: 6 December 1891, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
. . . . . . . . . . . . 4-Elsie GRESS
                        b: 13 May 1894
. . . . . . . . . . . . 4-Howard J. GRESS
                        b: 18 March 1896, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
. . . . . . . . . . . . 4-Beulah GRESS
                        b: 27 January 1898, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
                        d: 7 May 1968, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
. . . . . . . . . . . . 4-Vera Julia GRESS
                        b: 11 January 1900, Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
                        d: 2 February 1976, Cheektowaga, Erie, New York, USA
. . . . . . . . 3-Carolyn M. GRESS
                b: about 1871
. . . . . . . . +Ralph WILLIAMS
. . . . . . . . . . . . 4-Ethelyn WILLIAMS
. . . . . . . . 3-John GRESS
                b: about 1873
. . . . . . . . 3-Eli GRESS
                b: about 1875
. . . . 2-Jacob GRESS
        b: about 1845, , , , Germany
. . . . 2-Barbara GRESS
        b: about 1848, , , , Germany
. . . . 2-Johann GRESS
        b: about 1850, , , , Germany
. . . . 2-George GRESS
        b: about February 1852, , , , Germany