Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011
Week 31: Grandparents' House
Week 31: Grandparents’ House. Describe your grandparents’ house. Was it big or small? How long did they live there?
What a great week to start the Geneablogger's posts again! One of my favorite childhood memories was visiting my grandparent's house. My grandparents, Jeanne and John, lived on Irving Avenue in Dayton, OH from about 1978 until 2006. I don't know for sure but I'd guess the house was built around the 1940's. It is on the edge of the University of Dayton student neighborhood and is a small 2 story which had been divided into two separate living spaces - downstairs and upstairs. My grandparents lived downstairs and they generally rented the upstairs apartment to college students (usually grad students because they were less noisy!) The house itself had several features that were fascinating to myself and my siblings and cousins as kids. These included a closet under the stairway big enough for us to all pile in and built a fort out of couch cushions and blankets and a swinging door between the kitchen and dining room. The backyard was also fun, with a big tree that was perfect for climbing and tons of snails that we were fascinated with.
The side yard usually had a patch of rhubarb and in the summers I loved to pick fresh rhubarb to eat (I think I was the only one of the kids who liked it because it was so tart!
I can guarantee that all of the grandkids have some wonderful memories of times spent at the Irving Ave house! I would guess that a favorite for everyone would be remembering my grandfather racing down the sidewalk next to our parent's cars as we would leave their house. Even though he is no longer able to run, Bop will still do just about anything to get a laugh out of his grandkids and now, his great grandkids.
What a great week to start the Geneablogger's posts again! One of my favorite childhood memories was visiting my grandparent's house. My grandparents, Jeanne and John, lived on Irving Avenue in Dayton, OH from about 1978 until 2006. I don't know for sure but I'd guess the house was built around the 1940's. It is on the edge of the University of Dayton student neighborhood and is a small 2 story which had been divided into two separate living spaces - downstairs and upstairs. My grandparents lived downstairs and they generally rented the upstairs apartment to college students (usually grad students because they were less noisy!) The house itself had several features that were fascinating to myself and my siblings and cousins as kids. These included a closet under the stairway big enough for us to all pile in and built a fort out of couch cushions and blankets and a swinging door between the kitchen and dining room. The backyard was also fun, with a big tree that was perfect for climbing and tons of snails that we were fascinated with.
The side yard usually had a patch of rhubarb and in the summers I loved to pick fresh rhubarb to eat (I think I was the only one of the kids who liked it because it was so tart!
I can guarantee that all of the grandkids have some wonderful memories of times spent at the Irving Ave house! I would guess that a favorite for everyone would be remembering my grandfather racing down the sidewalk next to our parent's cars as we would leave their house. Even though he is no longer able to run, Bop will still do just about anything to get a laugh out of his grandkids and now, his great grandkids.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Tombston Tuesday - Croatia Part I
Last month my mom and I traveled to Croatia. We stayed with some of her grandmother's family that she found when she visited in 2009. We were searching for any of her grandfather's family that may be left there (more on that in later posts).
While we were there we spent 2 days in the town of Aleksinica in the region of Lika. This is where my great-grandmother, Anna Vrkljan, was born and lived until she came to the United States in the 1920's. She left behind a sister named Marija. Marija's granddaughter (my mom's second cousin) and her family was who we were visiting.
One stop we made in Aleksinica was the church and cemetery. Below is a picture of Marija's grave. She was buried with her son, Marko, and his wife Ivka.
The inside of the church was beautiful and we had a wonderful 2 days there.
While we were there we spent 2 days in the town of Aleksinica in the region of Lika. This is where my great-grandmother, Anna Vrkljan, was born and lived until she came to the United States in the 1920's. She left behind a sister named Marija. Marija's granddaughter (my mom's second cousin) and her family was who we were visiting.
One stop we made in Aleksinica was the church and cemetery. Below is a picture of Marija's grave. She was buried with her son, Marko, and his wife Ivka.
The inside of the church was beautiful and we had a wonderful 2 days there.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Week # 25: Neighbors
Week #25 - Neighbors. Who were your childhood neighbors? Have you kept in touch with any of them? Do you feel the concept of “neighbors” has changed since then?
Sorry that I've been slacking these weekly posts. I logged in today determined to do one no matter what the suggested topic but I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was a subject that I had a lot to say about!
Our neighborhood growing up was THE BEST! Our house sat in the middle of a row of about 7 houses where the neighbors became some of our (and our parents) best friends. First of all, our immediate next door neighbors on one side were my Aunt, Uncle and cousins. That was great to begin with because it was like having a second house and yard. There were no fences between the yards and we ran through their yard (and many of the neighbor's yards) as if we owned them too! If we got bored at our house we could go over to our cousin's house (entering with just a warning double knock on the front door) and see what was going on over there. The other neighboring families happened to all have kids close to our own ages and mothers who all happened to be stay at home moms like ours. Summer evenings in the neighborhood were the most fun when everyone was outside--the kids playing, riding bikes or roller skating and the parents all gathering in one yard or another to chat and maybe have a drink or two! We had an open green space behind our houses where everyone would often gather for games of baseball or soccer.
My favorite memory would have to be the parties. For special occasions (or sometimes just because) we had a lamb roast (big family tradition as you've noticed from some of the pictures in previous posts) and family, friends and neighbors would all come to eat and socialize during the afternoon. In the evening, it turned into the neighbors sitting around the fire talking, laughing, and finishing off the keg of beer! Meanwhile the kids, with our walkie talkies and flashlights, would sneak around the yards making a game of "spying" on the adults. Looking back now I am not sure how this held our attention for the hours that it did but somehow it was always fun. It may have helped that we were probably high on sugar from all the party food and were up way past our normal bed time. One time some other neighbors, who were obviously jealous that they were not invited, called the police on our parents because we were being too loud!
Do we keep in touch today? Many of us do, to some extent. Everyone has since moved but some are still in the area and sometimes "the moms" get together for dinner. Just a few weeks ago my sister's friend Annie (from 2 doors down in the old neighborhood) and her mom stopped by to visit.
I do think neighbors and neighborhoods have changed some since that time (we are talking about 1980s mainly). There are still some places where people end up forming little groups of friends with their neighbors like we did but I think it is harder now. More mothers are working outside the home and kids are doing more scheduled activities after school and on the weekends instead of just going home and running around the neighborhood with siblings and friends.
I don't know if our experience with our childhood neighboorhood is completely unique but I do know we definitely had a lot of good times on Falcon Circle!
Sorry that I've been slacking these weekly posts. I logged in today determined to do one no matter what the suggested topic but I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was a subject that I had a lot to say about!
Our neighborhood growing up was THE BEST! Our house sat in the middle of a row of about 7 houses where the neighbors became some of our (and our parents) best friends. First of all, our immediate next door neighbors on one side were my Aunt, Uncle and cousins. That was great to begin with because it was like having a second house and yard. There were no fences between the yards and we ran through their yard (and many of the neighbor's yards) as if we owned them too! If we got bored at our house we could go over to our cousin's house (entering with just a warning double knock on the front door) and see what was going on over there. The other neighboring families happened to all have kids close to our own ages and mothers who all happened to be stay at home moms like ours. Summer evenings in the neighborhood were the most fun when everyone was outside--the kids playing, riding bikes or roller skating and the parents all gathering in one yard or another to chat and maybe have a drink or two! We had an open green space behind our houses where everyone would often gather for games of baseball or soccer.
My favorite memory would have to be the parties. For special occasions (or sometimes just because) we had a lamb roast (big family tradition as you've noticed from some of the pictures in previous posts) and family, friends and neighbors would all come to eat and socialize during the afternoon. In the evening, it turned into the neighbors sitting around the fire talking, laughing, and finishing off the keg of beer! Meanwhile the kids, with our walkie talkies and flashlights, would sneak around the yards making a game of "spying" on the adults. Looking back now I am not sure how this held our attention for the hours that it did but somehow it was always fun. It may have helped that we were probably high on sugar from all the party food and were up way past our normal bed time. One time some other neighbors, who were obviously jealous that they were not invited, called the police on our parents because we were being too loud!
Do we keep in touch today? Many of us do, to some extent. Everyone has since moved but some are still in the area and sometimes "the moms" get together for dinner. Just a few weeks ago my sister's friend Annie (from 2 doors down in the old neighborhood) and her mom stopped by to visit.
I do think neighbors and neighborhoods have changed some since that time (we are talking about 1980s mainly). There are still some places where people end up forming little groups of friends with their neighbors like we did but I think it is harder now. More mothers are working outside the home and kids are doing more scheduled activities after school and on the weekends instead of just going home and running around the neighborhood with siblings and friends.
I don't know if our experience with our childhood neighboorhood is completely unique but I do know we definitely had a lot of good times on Falcon Circle!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Cora Veldkamp - Newspaper Archives
While searching through the website NewspaperARCHIVE I found a short article about my great-grandmother, Cora (Van Der Aa) Veldkamp. This was published in The Pointer in Riverdale, Illinois, February 23, 1923. My grandmother remembers her mother talking about this illness. She was convinced that she would only have girl babies as a result of it - but after four girls - a boy came along!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Land Records
Genealogy research usually begins with collecting birth, marriage and death records for ancestors. Using these to find the parents of each ancestor and go back another generation. But after moving back a few generations there usually comes a time when those records aren't available for a certain ancestor - then what? A good genealogist will learn to search for other types of records that can give details of where someone lived, who their neighbors were and who they may have interacted with on a daily basis. Very quickly they will learn that there are hundreds of "other" types of records to find.
Tonight I was reminded of an online resource for some of those "other" records that I haven't used in quite a while - the US Dept. of the Interior - Bureau of Land Management - General Land Office Records. This website includes a database of Land Patents - which recorded the initial transfer of land from the federal government to individual owners and includes a description of the location of the land and the issue date. Since many of my father's ancestors came to Ohio early in its history as a state, I did a quick search to see if I could find any land for them.
Below shows a record I found for David Austin Randall. D.A. Randall was the brother of our 3rd great-grandfather, Delano P. Randall - and also the Reverend who married our 2nd great-grandparents, Henry A. Grubb and Harriet Randall. He was a prominent figure in Columbus, Ohio for most of his life and (most likely) the namesake for my brother, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, all named David Austin.
This shows a description of land in Chillicothe, Ohio sold to David A. Randall of Franklin County, Ohio on September 1, 1857. I don't believe that D.A. Randall ever lived in Chillicothe, but it does give me something further to investigate to see where this land was and what he may have done with it.
The BLM General Land Office Records site has other interesting information, such as the survey plats and even field notes which are a narrative record of how the land was surveyed, including instruments used and the people involved. They have documents dating back to 1810 - so if you have any ancestors that were the first to settle in certain states here in the US check out this site and see what you can find.
Tonight I was reminded of an online resource for some of those "other" records that I haven't used in quite a while - the US Dept. of the Interior - Bureau of Land Management - General Land Office Records. This website includes a database of Land Patents - which recorded the initial transfer of land from the federal government to individual owners and includes a description of the location of the land and the issue date. Since many of my father's ancestors came to Ohio early in its history as a state, I did a quick search to see if I could find any land for them.
Below shows a record I found for David Austin Randall. D.A. Randall was the brother of our 3rd great-grandfather, Delano P. Randall - and also the Reverend who married our 2nd great-grandparents, Henry A. Grubb and Harriet Randall. He was a prominent figure in Columbus, Ohio for most of his life and (most likely) the namesake for my brother, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, all named David Austin.
This shows a description of land in Chillicothe, Ohio sold to David A. Randall of Franklin County, Ohio on September 1, 1857. I don't believe that D.A. Randall ever lived in Chillicothe, but it does give me something further to investigate to see where this land was and what he may have done with it.The BLM General Land Office Records site has other interesting information, such as the survey plats and even field notes which are a narrative record of how the land was surveyed, including instruments used and the people involved. They have documents dating back to 1810 - so if you have any ancestors that were the first to settle in certain states here in the US check out this site and see what you can find.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Wordless Wednesday - Four Generations
Agnes (Santifort) van der Aa, Cora (van der Aa) Veldkamp, Jeanne (Veldkamp) Manovich, Diane (Manovich) Brogan-Adams
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
60 Years Ago...
Some pictures of my grandparents on their honeymoon! Happy Anniversary (just a bit late!)
Monday, June 6, 2011
Kent State Yearbook
Last fall we posted a photo that we found of our grandfather's high school yearbook from Ancestry.com. Recently I also found our grandfather's yearbook from Kent State University. He was pictured twice - once for his formal picture and again as part of his fraternity - Kappa Mu Kappa. The pictures are below - the Grubb ears are truly on display in the second one!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Choosing a Last Name
I recently found a website called Tresoar - which is the Frisian Historical and Literary Centre. Since I used genlias to confirm that some of my grandmother's family had come from the Friesland area in the Netherlands - I thought I'd see what this website had to offer. Fortunately the website has an English version so I could do some basic searches without too much trouble.
My most interesting find was the database called "Family names 1811". In 1811 all Friesland residents had to register a last name. Up until that time many people used their father's first name as their last name instead of a family last name. A quick search of the Veldkamp last name showed me my grandmother's great-great-grandfather - Johan Hendrik Veldkamp - declaring "Veldkamp" as his last name in 1811. And the most exciting part was they have an actual scanned image of the book where this was recorded (shown below).
This shows Johan Hendrik Veldkamp - from the city of Kollum - registering his last name as "Veldkamp". It also shows that he has one daughter - Saapke Catharina - who is just three months old. This matches the other records I've found which show that Johan was married on December 23, 1810 and had his first child on September 30, 1811.
I love that the scanned image appears to have his signature at the bottom also - just a little peek into the past.
My most interesting find was the database called "Family names 1811". In 1811 all Friesland residents had to register a last name. Up until that time many people used their father's first name as their last name instead of a family last name. A quick search of the Veldkamp last name showed me my grandmother's great-great-grandfather - Johan Hendrik Veldkamp - declaring "Veldkamp" as his last name in 1811. And the most exciting part was they have an actual scanned image of the book where this was recorded (shown below).
This shows Johan Hendrik Veldkamp - from the city of Kollum - registering his last name as "Veldkamp". It also shows that he has one daughter - Saapke Catharina - who is just three months old. This matches the other records I've found which show that Johan was married on December 23, 1810 and had his first child on September 30, 1811.
I love that the scanned image appears to have his signature at the bottom also - just a little peek into the past.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Week 17 - Pets
Week 17. Pets. Did you have any pets as a child? If so, what types and what were their names. Do you have pets now? Describe them as well. If you did not have pets, you can discuss those of neighbors or other family members.
I'd be lying if I said that there was just one odd thing about our childhood but no, there are a few! One being that we were one of the few families that never had a pet. When I say never, I mean NEVER - not even a harmless little fish! Neither of our parents were fans of animals and if we ever tried begging for a pet we were told that when we grew up and moved out we were free to have all the pets that we wanted. That didn't make us give up trying though. I'll never forget the brief moment that Susan and I thought Mom had finally given in. Our friend Teresa across the street had a bunch of hamsters and she had them in their cage out in her front yard one day. I guess she told us that we could have one because I remember us rushing back across the street to our house to plead with Mom to just let us have one tiny little hamster. To our surprise she said "sure" but unfortunately followed with "you can have one but it has to stay at Teresa's house". I think we were excited for about one second until we realized that having a pet that couldn't actually live in your house wasn't really having a pet at all! So for a few weeks I think that we pretended to have a pet hamster. I don't even remember if we named it or not. We had "visitation" with our hamster only on nice days that summer when Teresa could bring the cage out in the yard because for other strange reasons we were not allowed to go inside her house.
Funny thing is that not one of the four of us owns a pet today (although David did have a sweet dog named Daisy for awhile).
I'd be lying if I said that there was just one odd thing about our childhood but no, there are a few! One being that we were one of the few families that never had a pet. When I say never, I mean NEVER - not even a harmless little fish! Neither of our parents were fans of animals and if we ever tried begging for a pet we were told that when we grew up and moved out we were free to have all the pets that we wanted. That didn't make us give up trying though. I'll never forget the brief moment that Susan and I thought Mom had finally given in. Our friend Teresa across the street had a bunch of hamsters and she had them in their cage out in her front yard one day. I guess she told us that we could have one because I remember us rushing back across the street to our house to plead with Mom to just let us have one tiny little hamster. To our surprise she said "sure" but unfortunately followed with "you can have one but it has to stay at Teresa's house". I think we were excited for about one second until we realized that having a pet that couldn't actually live in your house wasn't really having a pet at all! So for a few weeks I think that we pretended to have a pet hamster. I don't even remember if we named it or not. We had "visitation" with our hamster only on nice days that summer when Teresa could bring the cage out in the yard because for other strange reasons we were not allowed to go inside her house.
Funny thing is that not one of the four of us owns a pet today (although David did have a sweet dog named Daisy for awhile).
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Dutch Genealogy - Happy Birthday Grandma!
A couple nights ago I found a website called genlias which is a combination of birth, marriage and death records from archives in the Netherlands. Since my grandmother is 100% Dutch I was excited to see what family information I might be able to find. My grandmother had heard mention of some of her ancestors being from the Friesland area in the Netherlands, but I had not found any actual Dutch records before. This website was amazing. In just a few days I have traced my grandmother's family back 7 generations (into the 1700's). Given more time I know that there's a lot more information to find - but since it's my grandmother's birthday today I thought I'd publish a quick summary of the names that we now know (by generation).
First - a quick map to show some of the different areas that the various families came from. If you click on any of the blue markers they will tell you what family name came from that place. The one near the very top is Anjum which is in Friesland (just as my grandmother had heard). This is where the Veldkamp's came from. In fact - I found out that Johannes Nicolaas Veldkamp was a watchmaker there before he left and came here with his family in 1881.
View Veldkamps in a larger map
Parents (2/2):
John Veldkamp
Cora van der Aa
Grandparents (4/4):
Yme (Samuel) Veldkamp
Jane de Ruiter
John Michael van der Aa
Agnes Santifort
Great-Grandparents (8/8):
Johannes Nicolaas Veldkamp
Riemke Jacobs Eelkema
Jan de Ruiter
Hendrikjen van de Wetering
Michael (Giel) van der Aa
Johanna van der Aa
Pieter Santifort
Cornelia van der Bok
Great-Great-Grandparents (16/16):
Johan Hendrik Veldkamp
Maria Elisabeth Renegie Stutsman
Jacob Eelkes Eelkema
Aaltje Jans Sjoordema
William Teunis de Ruiter
Aaltje Jansen Broek
Jan van de Wetering
Fennegjen van de Weerd
Arie van der Aa
Magteldje Baardwijk
Leendert van der Aa
Johanna Vogel
Lucas Santifort
Neeltje Korte
Paulus van der Bok
Grietje Witte
Great-Great-Great-Grandparents (25/32):
unknown Veldkamp
unknown
Johan Nicolaas Stutsman
unknown
unknown Eelkema
unknown
unknown Sjoordema
unknown
Teunis Gerrits de Ruiter
Hendrikje Willems
Jans Davids Broek
Marrigje Barteis van der Kolk
Hendrikus Jans van de Wetering
Jennigjen Hendriks
Arend Mertens van de Weerd
Johanna Scheppink
Klaas van der Aa
Lijntje Scheer
Michiel Baardwijk
Gerrigje Huisman
Gerrit van der Aa
Hadewijn den Branker
Jacob Arieszn Vogel
Annigje Gijsbertsdr Heijkoop
Leendert Santifort
Lientje Kloosterman
Aart Korte
Jannetje Braad
Jan van der Bok
Cornelia Mierop
Willem Witte
Aagje van der Meulen
Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandparents (12/64):
Leendert van der Aa (father of Gerrit)
Lena Menkelis (mother of Gerrit)
Jan Braad (father of Jannetje)
Teutje Arensd de Voogel (mother of Jannetje)
Paulus van der Bok (father of Jan)
Geertruijd Fransdr Brinkman (mother of Jan)
Krijn Mierop (father of Cornelia)
Elizabeth Ruijt (mother of Cornelia)
Cornelis Witte (father of Willem)
Grietje de Vogel (mother of Willem)
Fransciscus van der Meulen (father of Aagje)
Christina van der Hoef (mother of Aagje)
Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandparents (8/128):
Jan van der Bok (father of Paulus)
Gooltje Tanis (mother of Paulus)
Gerrit Ruijt (father of Elizabeth)
Baaltje Abramsdr Westhoeve (mother of Elizabeth)
Willem Witte (father of Cornelis)
Johann Ariaanse Cole (mother of Cornelis)
Jan de Vogel (father of Grietje)
Klaartje Tanis (mother of Grietje)
First - a quick map to show some of the different areas that the various families came from. If you click on any of the blue markers they will tell you what family name came from that place. The one near the very top is Anjum which is in Friesland (just as my grandmother had heard). This is where the Veldkamp's came from. In fact - I found out that Johannes Nicolaas Veldkamp was a watchmaker there before he left and came here with his family in 1881.
View Veldkamps in a larger map
Parents (2/2):
John Veldkamp
Cora van der Aa
Grandparents (4/4):
Yme (Samuel) Veldkamp
Jane de Ruiter
John Michael van der Aa
Agnes Santifort
Great-Grandparents (8/8):
Johannes Nicolaas Veldkamp
Riemke Jacobs Eelkema
Jan de Ruiter
Hendrikjen van de Wetering
Michael (Giel) van der Aa
Johanna van der Aa
Pieter Santifort
Cornelia van der Bok
Great-Great-Grandparents (16/16):
Johan Hendrik Veldkamp
Maria Elisabeth Renegie Stutsman
Jacob Eelkes Eelkema
Aaltje Jans Sjoordema
William Teunis de Ruiter
Aaltje Jansen Broek
Jan van de Wetering
Fennegjen van de Weerd
Arie van der Aa
Magteldje Baardwijk
Leendert van der Aa
Johanna Vogel
Lucas Santifort
Neeltje Korte
Paulus van der Bok
Grietje Witte
Great-Great-Great-Grandparents (25/32):
unknown Veldkamp
unknown
Johan Nicolaas Stutsman
unknown
unknown Eelkema
unknown
unknown Sjoordema
unknown
Teunis Gerrits de Ruiter
Hendrikje Willems
Jans Davids Broek
Marrigje Barteis van der Kolk
Hendrikus Jans van de Wetering
Jennigjen Hendriks
Arend Mertens van de Weerd
Johanna Scheppink
Klaas van der Aa
Lijntje Scheer
Michiel Baardwijk
Gerrigje Huisman
Gerrit van der Aa
Hadewijn den Branker
Jacob Arieszn Vogel
Annigje Gijsbertsdr Heijkoop
Leendert Santifort
Lientje Kloosterman
Aart Korte
Jannetje Braad
Jan van der Bok
Cornelia Mierop
Willem Witte
Aagje van der Meulen
Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandparents (12/64):
Leendert van der Aa (father of Gerrit)
Lena Menkelis (mother of Gerrit)
Jan Braad (father of Jannetje)
Teutje Arensd de Voogel (mother of Jannetje)
Paulus van der Bok (father of Jan)
Geertruijd Fransdr Brinkman (mother of Jan)
Krijn Mierop (father of Cornelia)
Elizabeth Ruijt (mother of Cornelia)
Cornelis Witte (father of Willem)
Grietje de Vogel (mother of Willem)
Fransciscus van der Meulen (father of Aagje)
Christina van der Hoef (mother of Aagje)
Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandparents (8/128):
Jan van der Bok (father of Paulus)
Gooltje Tanis (mother of Paulus)
Gerrit Ruijt (father of Elizabeth)
Baaltje Abramsdr Westhoeve (mother of Elizabeth)
Willem Witte (father of Cornelis)
Johann Ariaanse Cole (mother of Cornelis)
Jan de Vogel (father of Grietje)
Klaartje Tanis (mother of Grietje)
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Michael VanDerAa - An Update
Last month I wrote a post about using passenger lists to find my 3rd great-grandfather - Michael VanDerAa and his family. Shortly after I wrote this I realized that I had made a mistake in the assumptions I made in that post. Mainly, that the fourth VanDerAa brother listed in the passenger list was Michael. It was not. The brothers listed were Jacob, Garrett, Wilhelm and Leinhard - not Michael. Given that Jacob, Garrett, Wilhelm and Michael were all living next to each other in the 1870 census, I assumed that the Leinhard that was listed was either mistranslated or was a middle name for Michael. Neither is true.
After searching a bit wider in the 1870 census, I found Leonard (Leinhard) VanDerAa living just a short distance from the other VanDerAa brothers. So - how does Michael fit in to the picture? I could find no passenger listing for Michael VanDerAa coming over from the Netherlands - but I found it hard to believe that he was not related to the other VanDerAa's given that he lived next door to them and they shared many similar names for their children and eventual grandchildren.
Eventually I found the time to do a search on FamilySearch.org and found the death certificate for Michael VanDerAa (pictured below).
His death certificate shows that his parents names were Arie VanDerAa and Maggie (unreadable last name). Excellent. Arie and Maggie VanDerAa are found in the 1860, 1870 and 1880 census' in Cook County - nearby Michael - although not next door like some of the other VanDerAa brothers that I wrote about last month.
I also found Arie and Maggie in the passenger lists on Ancestry.com. They came over from the Netherlands on November 13, 1854 on a ship called "Mississippi Of Demerara". It left from Rotterdam, Netherlands and arrived in Baltimore, Maryland. They are listed traveling with their children: Gerrit - age 2 - who died during the passage over, Grel - age 18, Klaaj - age 20 and Thijs - age 9.
The son listed as "Grel" is the one that I believe is Michael VanDerAa - my 3rd great-grandfather. His name listed in Dutch was often spelled Magiel and I believe he is listed in the passenger list as simply Giel (not Grel).
So - how is his family related to the other VanDerAa's that he lived among in the years following his arrival in the US? Right now - I believe that his wife Johanna actually had the maiden name of VanDerAa (and also the married name of VanDerAa). I believe she may be the sister that is listed in the passenger list with Jacob, Garrett, Wilhelm and Leinhard.
Other than the fact that her age seems to match the Johanna listed in that original passenger list I found, I also found the birth certificate for some of her children (one for daughter Johanna is shown below). In all cases her Full Name and her Maiden Name are both listed as Johanna VanDerAa.
Obviously I have a lot more research to do to understand the VanDerAa's living in Cook County and how they are all related - but for now I do believe that I know the name of my 4th great-grandfather - Arie VanDerAa.
After searching a bit wider in the 1870 census, I found Leonard (Leinhard) VanDerAa living just a short distance from the other VanDerAa brothers. So - how does Michael fit in to the picture? I could find no passenger listing for Michael VanDerAa coming over from the Netherlands - but I found it hard to believe that he was not related to the other VanDerAa's given that he lived next door to them and they shared many similar names for their children and eventual grandchildren.
Eventually I found the time to do a search on FamilySearch.org and found the death certificate for Michael VanDerAa (pictured below).
His death certificate shows that his parents names were Arie VanDerAa and Maggie (unreadable last name). Excellent. Arie and Maggie VanDerAa are found in the 1860, 1870 and 1880 census' in Cook County - nearby Michael - although not next door like some of the other VanDerAa brothers that I wrote about last month.
I also found Arie and Maggie in the passenger lists on Ancestry.com. They came over from the Netherlands on November 13, 1854 on a ship called "Mississippi Of Demerara". It left from Rotterdam, Netherlands and arrived in Baltimore, Maryland. They are listed traveling with their children: Gerrit - age 2 - who died during the passage over, Grel - age 18, Klaaj - age 20 and Thijs - age 9.
The son listed as "Grel" is the one that I believe is Michael VanDerAa - my 3rd great-grandfather. His name listed in Dutch was often spelled Magiel and I believe he is listed in the passenger list as simply Giel (not Grel).
So - how is his family related to the other VanDerAa's that he lived among in the years following his arrival in the US? Right now - I believe that his wife Johanna actually had the maiden name of VanDerAa (and also the married name of VanDerAa). I believe she may be the sister that is listed in the passenger list with Jacob, Garrett, Wilhelm and Leinhard.
Other than the fact that her age seems to match the Johanna listed in that original passenger list I found, I also found the birth certificate for some of her children (one for daughter Johanna is shown below). In all cases her Full Name and her Maiden Name are both listed as Johanna VanDerAa.
Obviously I have a lot more research to do to understand the VanDerAa's living in Cook County and how they are all related - but for now I do believe that I know the name of my 4th great-grandfather - Arie VanDerAa.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Week #16 - Restaurants
Week 16 - Restaurants: What was your favorite local restaurant as a child? Where was it located and what was your favorite meal? Did you know the staff personally? What is your favorite restaurant now?
We rarely ate out as a family when we were kids(probably at least in part due to the fact that there were 6 of us so it was pretty expensive). However, when we visited my grandparents we were sometimes able to get carry out from a little pizza/sub shop named Milano's. It was located on Brown Street in Dayton on the edge of the University of Dayton's campus and a short walk from my grandparent's house. I don't remember ever getting anything there besides a grilled ham and provolone sub (no onions please) and an order of potatoes with extra sour cream. If the weather was nice, we would call in our order and then walk over with my grandfather to pick it up. The place was a little hole in the wall that was well loved by the college student population. There were often the same people working there who usually looked less than thrilled to be there, especially on busy weekend nights.
Today I would still count Milano's as one of my favorite places to eat. It's location has changed slightly, as they moved into a bigger and new location nearby a few years ago, but the menu still has my old favorites on it. Writing this post is making me hungry! If they only delivered, I would get my grilled ham and provolone and potatoes for dinner tonight.
We rarely ate out as a family when we were kids(probably at least in part due to the fact that there were 6 of us so it was pretty expensive). However, when we visited my grandparents we were sometimes able to get carry out from a little pizza/sub shop named Milano's. It was located on Brown Street in Dayton on the edge of the University of Dayton's campus and a short walk from my grandparent's house. I don't remember ever getting anything there besides a grilled ham and provolone sub (no onions please) and an order of potatoes with extra sour cream. If the weather was nice, we would call in our order and then walk over with my grandfather to pick it up. The place was a little hole in the wall that was well loved by the college student population. There were often the same people working there who usually looked less than thrilled to be there, especially on busy weekend nights.
Today I would still count Milano's as one of my favorite places to eat. It's location has changed slightly, as they moved into a bigger and new location nearby a few years ago, but the menu still has my old favorites on it. Writing this post is making me hungry! If they only delivered, I would get my grilled ham and provolone and potatoes for dinner tonight.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Week #15 - Sports
Sports. Did you have a favorite sports team as a child? If so, which one and why. Did your parents follow the same teams? Do you still support the same teams?
I should mention that it is Heather writing this post, and not Jeanne. She and Susan decided the sports post should be written by me.
I don't think that any of us could say that we really had one favorite sports team growing up, but we did watch sports fairly often. Mostly one of the following teams:
The Chicago Cubs - All summer our grandmother would watch the Cubs. I seem to remember Grandma telling a story about riding the train to Wrigley Field to see games because they had a "Ladies Day" when women could get into the games for free (or $0.25.)
The Chicago Bears - Especially the '85 Bears when they won the Superbowl. We had a VHS tape of The Superbowl Shuffle and I watched it a million times. I was probably the only one who watched it repeatedly, but everyone knew the song!
The Cleveland Browns - Our Dad was a Cleveland Browns fan and we would watch the games sometimes. Susan said that they always made Dad mad though, and I have to say the same thing happens now at my house every Sunday with my husband also having the curse of being a Cleveland Browns fan. I just wish they could have a winning season!
The University of Dayton Flyers Basketball - We probably watched more basketball on TV then anything else. Our Mom is a college basketball lover, especially UD basketball. This past season my 2 year old learned half of the team from some basketball cards he got. I think you could safely call him a UD fan!
I should mention that it is Heather writing this post, and not Jeanne. She and Susan decided the sports post should be written by me.
I don't think that any of us could say that we really had one favorite sports team growing up, but we did watch sports fairly often. Mostly one of the following teams:
The Chicago Cubs - All summer our grandmother would watch the Cubs. I seem to remember Grandma telling a story about riding the train to Wrigley Field to see games because they had a "Ladies Day" when women could get into the games for free (or $0.25.)
The Chicago Bears - Especially the '85 Bears when they won the Superbowl. We had a VHS tape of The Superbowl Shuffle and I watched it a million times. I was probably the only one who watched it repeatedly, but everyone knew the song!
The Cleveland Browns - Our Dad was a Cleveland Browns fan and we would watch the games sometimes. Susan said that they always made Dad mad though, and I have to say the same thing happens now at my house every Sunday with my husband also having the curse of being a Cleveland Browns fan. I just wish they could have a winning season!
The University of Dayton Flyers Basketball - We probably watched more basketball on TV then anything else. Our Mom is a college basketball lover, especially UD basketball. This past season my 2 year old learned half of the team from some basketball cards he got. I think you could safely call him a UD fan!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Tombstone Tuesday - Delano P. Randall
Delano P. Randall is our 3rd great-grandfather. He was the father of Harriet E. Randall who married Henry A. Grubb. In fact, Delano's brother - David Austin Randall - was the minister who married Harriet and Henry in Ohio in 1864. Below is the note that was entered into the marriage record in Ohio to document their marriage.
Monday, April 11, 2011
The Mystery of Lucy - Solved! (Part I)
Last year I wrote a post about my husband’s great-great-grandmother – Lucy. At the time I had just received her death certificate, along with the death certificate of her daughter – Sadie. Both had left me with a lot of questions.
A few weeks ago I took some time to revisit the information I had on Lucy and to see what new information I might find on FamilySearch.org. (If you've never been to FamilySearch.org I'd recommend a quick visit - after all it's free and there's a lot of interesting family information just waiting to be found.)
Turns out that FamilySearch.org has a database of Virginia marriages from 1785 – 1940 that gave me the missing information I needed to put together a more complete picture of Lucy’s life. I’m sure there’s more to be learned (there always is!) but I'm going to post as much as I know here over the next few weeks.
Lucy Bagley was born April 16, 1885 in Blackstone, Virginia. Blackstone is 35 miles southwest of Petersburg, Virginia and is a rural tobacco farming area. Lucy was born just twenty years after the end of the civil war and her parents may very well have been born in slavery.
According to her marriage information, Lucy was the daughter of William Bagley and Mary Williams. Once I knew the names of her parents and the place where she was born, I found her parents listed in the 1880 census, five years before her birth.
Assuming this is the correct William and Mary Bagley, it appears that Lucy had an older sister named Lizzie. Since there are other documents that show that Lucy named one of her daughters Mary Lizzie, I believe I've found the correct family.
Up next: the family moves to Petersburg, Virginia
A few weeks ago I took some time to revisit the information I had on Lucy and to see what new information I might find on FamilySearch.org. (If you've never been to FamilySearch.org I'd recommend a quick visit - after all it's free and there's a lot of interesting family information just waiting to be found.)
Turns out that FamilySearch.org has a database of Virginia marriages from 1785 – 1940 that gave me the missing information I needed to put together a more complete picture of Lucy’s life. I’m sure there’s more to be learned (there always is!) but I'm going to post as much as I know here over the next few weeks.
Lucy Bagley was born April 16, 1885 in Blackstone, Virginia. Blackstone is 35 miles southwest of Petersburg, Virginia and is a rural tobacco farming area. Lucy was born just twenty years after the end of the civil war and her parents may very well have been born in slavery.
According to her marriage information, Lucy was the daughter of William Bagley and Mary Williams. Once I knew the names of her parents and the place where she was born, I found her parents listed in the 1880 census, five years before her birth.
Assuming this is the correct William and Mary Bagley, it appears that Lucy had an older sister named Lizzie. Since there are other documents that show that Lucy named one of her daughters Mary Lizzie, I believe I've found the correct family.
Up next: the family moves to Petersburg, Virginia
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Week 13: Sweets
Week 13: Sweets. What was your favorite childhood candy or dessert? Have your tastes changed since then? What satisfies your sweet tooth today?
Well, I missed a week in this series and didn't even realize it! I wouldn't want to miss this topic though! Of the 3 of us I may not have the biggest sweet tooth but I have strong opinions about what I like and dislike when it comes to sweets.
Let's make it simple and do a list:
Dark chocolate - my favorite! The best are Godiva dark chocolate truffles.
Milk chocolate - not worth it unless it's in a pretzel m&m (wish they would come out with a dark chocolate version)
Jelly beans - not that exciting to me except for the Starburst ones that they have now - yum!
Licorice - Twizzlers red licorice reminds me of fun times at the Brogan lake house. I can't stand black licorice though!
Ice cream - Ok, maybe I was wrong about dark chocolate being my favorite. It has to be ice cream. I love it in all forms- sundaes, shakes, sandwiches, or just plain. Please just don't add any kind of nuts because that TOTALLY ruins it!
Reeces pieces - I love these! I know that it doesn't make any sense given my dislike of nuts but the smooth peanut butter in them is sooo good.
I don't think that my tastes have changed much since I was a kid. I've always loved ice cream. I don't think I had much dark chocolate as a kid, just milk chocolate. I do remember loving Butterfinger candy bars and now I don't really like them.
What are your favorites?
Well, I missed a week in this series and didn't even realize it! I wouldn't want to miss this topic though! Of the 3 of us I may not have the biggest sweet tooth but I have strong opinions about what I like and dislike when it comes to sweets.
Let's make it simple and do a list:
Dark chocolate - my favorite! The best are Godiva dark chocolate truffles.
Milk chocolate - not worth it unless it's in a pretzel m&m (wish they would come out with a dark chocolate version)
Jelly beans - not that exciting to me except for the Starburst ones that they have now - yum!
Licorice - Twizzlers red licorice reminds me of fun times at the Brogan lake house. I can't stand black licorice though!
Ice cream - Ok, maybe I was wrong about dark chocolate being my favorite. It has to be ice cream. I love it in all forms- sundaes, shakes, sandwiches, or just plain. Please just don't add any kind of nuts because that TOTALLY ruins it!
Reeces pieces - I love these! I know that it doesn't make any sense given my dislike of nuts but the smooth peanut butter in them is sooo good.
I don't think that my tastes have changed much since I was a kid. I've always loved ice cream. I don't think I had much dark chocolate as a kid, just milk chocolate. I do remember loving Butterfinger candy bars and now I don't really like them.
What are your favorites?
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Tombstone Tuesday (Almost)
Growing up my grandfather didn't know a lot about the family his parents left behind in Croatia. When we were young he told us that his father had brothers that came over to the US and worked in the mines in Canada. One brother was killed in a mining accident there.
Fast-forward to a few months ago and my grandmother found an old piece of wrapping paper that my grandfather had filled with information on his father's family. My grandfather says that he did this late one night after he and his father had had a lot to drink! This piece of paper has many good pieces of genealogy information - and it confirms what my grandfather has always said - his uncle - Juso Umiljenovic - was killed in a mining accident in Canada in 1934 - just one week before he was scheduled to return home to his family in Croatia.
Since there was a specific year given, I decided to try to find a record of Juso's death in Canada. A quick search on Ancestry.com and I had it.
I sent away for the official death certificate that you see above. It shows that Joe Umiljenovich died on September 4, 1934 in Britannia Beach, British Columbia.
I did a quick search on Britannia Beach and found this website. Looks like it was most likely a copper mine where he was killed. I haven't had a chance to do any further research, but was happy to find proof of an old story that had been passed down from my great-grandfather.
Fast-forward to a few months ago and my grandmother found an old piece of wrapping paper that my grandfather had filled with information on his father's family. My grandfather says that he did this late one night after he and his father had had a lot to drink! This piece of paper has many good pieces of genealogy information - and it confirms what my grandfather has always said - his uncle - Juso Umiljenovic - was killed in a mining accident in Canada in 1934 - just one week before he was scheduled to return home to his family in Croatia.
Since there was a specific year given, I decided to try to find a record of Juso's death in Canada. A quick search on Ancestry.com and I had it.
I sent away for the official death certificate that you see above. It shows that Joe Umiljenovich died on September 4, 1934 in Britannia Beach, British Columbia.
I did a quick search on Britannia Beach and found this website. Looks like it was most likely a copper mine where he was killed. I haven't had a chance to do any further research, but was happy to find proof of an old story that had been passed down from my great-grandfather.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Week 12: Movies
Week 12: Movies. Did (or do you still) see many movies? Describe your favorites. Where did you see these films? Is the theater still there, or is there something else in its place?
My earliest movie theater memory was going to see the Muppets movie with my Dad and siblings. I don't really remember anything about the actual movie but after doing a little Google search I think it may have been The Great Muppet Caper from 1981. I do remember that McDonalds gave away glasses with Miss Piggy on them and we all got one. I wish I could remember what theater we went to but I can't. Maybe one of my siblings remembers? It could have been the Flicker Palace theater in Huber but I am not sure.
The other movie memory that really stands out was going with my Mom and sister Susan to see Dirty Dancing at the movie theater in Beavercreek. This came out in 1987 when I was in 8th grade. What a great love story! White keds and jean shorts were wardrobe staples that summer. Once that movie came out on VHS we rented it frequently!
Other than movie theater memories, my favorite movie memory is watching Girls Just Want To Have Fun over and over. We rented it so many times from the video store, it would have made more sense to just buy it! Heather probably watched it more than the rest of us though given her habit as a kid of watching movies on repeat.
I rarely watch movies now. My movie watching significantly slowed down after Natalie's birth. I could probably make the time to catch a few every now and then but when I have a quiet amount of time it's not always for a 2 hour stretch at once and there are often other things that need to be done if I do!
Please share your movie memories with us!
My earliest movie theater memory was going to see the Muppets movie with my Dad and siblings. I don't really remember anything about the actual movie but after doing a little Google search I think it may have been The Great Muppet Caper from 1981. I do remember that McDonalds gave away glasses with Miss Piggy on them and we all got one. I wish I could remember what theater we went to but I can't. Maybe one of my siblings remembers? It could have been the Flicker Palace theater in Huber but I am not sure.
The other movie memory that really stands out was going with my Mom and sister Susan to see Dirty Dancing at the movie theater in Beavercreek. This came out in 1987 when I was in 8th grade. What a great love story! White keds and jean shorts were wardrobe staples that summer. Once that movie came out on VHS we rented it frequently!
Other than movie theater memories, my favorite movie memory is watching Girls Just Want To Have Fun over and over. We rented it so many times from the video store, it would have made more sense to just buy it! Heather probably watched it more than the rest of us though given her habit as a kid of watching movies on repeat.
I rarely watch movies now. My movie watching significantly slowed down after Natalie's birth. I could probably make the time to catch a few every now and then but when I have a quiet amount of time it's not always for a 2 hour stretch at once and there are often other things that need to be done if I do!
Please share your movie memories with us!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Tombstone Tuesday - The Missing Great-Great-Grandparent
Last month I wrote about visiting the graves of 7 of our 8 paternal great-great-grandparents. The only one we missed was Cyrus William Gray II - who is buried in Connecticut.
This week I was doing some searches on FindAGrave and came across a picture of Cyrus' tombstone. For those of you not familiar with it - FindAGrave is a website that organizes burial information by cemetery and allows users to upload pictures of individual gravestones. If there is a grave you would like a picture of - you can submit a request and a local volunteer may go take a picture and post it for you. I was lucky to find that someone had already take one of Cyrus' grave. Thank you ann for posting that picture!
Notice that his wife Anna is listed on the tombstone also without a death date. She was actually buried in Ohio instead (where she went to live with her daughter after Cyrus passed away).
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Newspaper Archives - Uncle Teddy
This weekend I did some searching of newspaper archives online. There are quite a few websites now that will let you do full text searches of old newspapers and download the actual pages that you find. I found many fun things so I'll try to post one here each week as I work on adding these documents to my family tree.
One thing I found was the obituary for my grandmothers great-uncle Teddy. I've heard my grandmother talk about her mother's Uncle Teddy often - in fact - here's a quote from my grandmother:
"One of my mother's uncles had an ice cream store right across the street from where the church was. So after church we always went to their house to visit. And he'd always take us into the store and he'd have all these things on the wall - the banana splits, etc - and he'd ask us what we wanted. And he'd make us that. Uncle Teddy. That was my mother's favorite uncle too."
Below is the obituary for Theodore M. VanDerAa. It was published in "The Pointer" (Riverdale, Illinois) on Thursday, March 16, 1939 - and I accessed it through NewspaperArchive - which is a paid website that gives users access to billions of newspapers dating back to the 1700's.
Translation of the text:
Theo. M. Van Der Aa, prominent citizen and business man, suddenly passed away last Thursday, March 9 at 12:15 p.m. His death was caused by coronary thrombosis. In the morning he was very active, enjoying his usual health, and as late as 12:05 p.m. waited on customers in his store. Answering the call for dinner, he lunched and lass than five minutes after he entered death.
Mr. Van Der Aa was born in South Holland on January 23, 1882, son of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Van Der Aa, one of the community's first settlers. On March 20, 1901, he was married to Alice Van Vuren. Passing away on March 9, he attained the age of 57 years, 1 month and 17 days. He leaves to mourn his death his wife; one son, Michael; two daughters, Jennie (Mrs. Wilfred Rietveld) and Leona; two brothers, Harry and Nick; five grandchildren, and a multitude of friends.
Funeral services were held Monday, March 13, at 2 o'clock in the First Reformed church, Rev. J. S. Ter Louw officiating. The body lay in state at the De Young Funeral parlor until funeral time. Internment was at Oaklawn cemetery.
The officers of the South Holland Volunteer Fire Department, of which Mr. Van Der Aa was assistant chief and treasurer for the past twenty years, acted as honorary pallbearers, and the non-ranking firemen were pallbearers. He was a charter member of the local fire company, member of the Community and State Fire associations, and a member of the South Holland Chamber of Commerce. He owned and operated his present business since 1912.
No matter how old or young, Teddy, as he was known, was liked by all. His death is a great loss to the community, to the fire department, to his business associates, to grown school children and the present ones, whom he delighted in serving in twenty-seven years of business.
This newspaper clipping has so many important pieces of genealogical information - it's a great example of how important it is to use historic newspapers when doing family research. From this I learned the following (some of which I already knew - it just confirmed it):
- Teddy VanDerAa's birthdate
- His father's name (the Michael VanDerAa I've written about before)
- Teddy VanDerAa's wedding date and his wife's maiden name
- Teddy's children's names
- The cemetery where Teddy is buried
- Teddy's association with the local fire department
- How long he owned his business
And - of course - it was sweet to read the last paragraph describing how he will be missed by many.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Tombstone Tuesday - Arvin Olin
Arvin Olin is our 5th great-grandfather. He was born July 13, 1797 and died June 9, 1870. The above photo is from Standing Rock Cemetery in Kent, Ohio (not the best picture - I know.)
Our line leading back to Arvin is:
Jeanne, Susan, Heather (that's us)
David Austin Grubb III (our father)
Phyllis Gray France (our grandmother)
Carl Haymaker France (our great-grandfather)
Cora May Haymaker (our great-great-grandmother)
Oscar Fitzerland Haymaker (our great-great-great-grandfather)
Mary Rosetta Olin (our great-great-great-great-grandmother)
Arvin Olin (our great-great-great-great-great-grandfather)
When you get as far back as 5th great-grandparents - you have 128 of them. Hard to imagine. At this point - we only know the names of approximately a quarter of those 128 - but I'm working on finding as many others as I can!
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Week 11 - Illness & Injury
This is Natalie watching the Legend of the Volcano Sisters (one of her fave Backyardigans episodes).
Week #11 – Illness & Injury. Describe your childhood illnesses or injuries. Who took care of you? Did you recuperate in your own bed, on the couch in front of the television, or somewhere else?
This prompt comes on a day when I am just getting home from a trip to the Pediatrician with my daughter who was diagnosed with Strep throat. Fortunately, her only symptom is a low grade fever and a little extra crankiness.
I am lucky that I was not a very sickly kid. I rarely got sick but when I did, it was real. I've never broken a bone or even sprained anything. I had some usual childhood illnesses - colds occasionally, flu and chicken pox. However, in high school I caught something a little less common: Pleurisy. Pleurisy is an inflammation of the pleura which is the membrane that surrounds and protects the lungs. I remember having a sharp pain in my chest/back for a week or more before I was diagnosed. It was a stabbing, knife-like pain and my family made fun of me about my "oh, the knife" pain. My mom finally took me to the doctor knowing that I was not usually one to be sick or have random pain. It's not anything that serious but it stands out in my memory because it wasn't your run of the mill illness.
I don't think I required much extra care but I'm sure my mom took good care of me like she always did. Even when I wasn't sick she made me breakfast every morning before school. We never stayed in our beds when sick but always made up our own "couch bed" and hung out there being waited on by my mom. When sick, this is the only time that we were permitted to have the cable channel changer moved from the top of the TV to next to us on the couch. Big excitement, that was!
Now I am off to snuggle with Natalie on the couch while she recovers with the help of her favorite TV shows. It's nice that TV controls are now wireless and there are On Demand cable programs.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Week #10 - Disasters - Hurricane Betsy
Week 10: Disasters. Did you experience any natural disasters in your lifetime? Tell us about them. If not, then discuss these events that happened to parents, grandparents or others in your family.
Thanks to our mom for the below post about Hurricane Betsy!
From 1963 to 1966 our family lived in New Orleans, LA and we experienced 3 Mardi Gras and 2 hurricanes. Those events were definitely the highlights of our 3 1/2 years in New Orleans. Hurricane Betsy made landfall on September 9, 1965. At the age of thirteen the hurricane was a big adventure. We had our batteries, water, and food that would not need refrigeration. We had a gas stove and hot water heater, so if our electricity went out, we still could cook and have hot water. The hurricane lasted all night and it sounded as if our little one story house would be blown down--but it was made of brick (those three little pigs had it right) and it made it through the storm. However, our trees and bushes around the house were not as fortunate. The two tall evergreens outside our front door collapsed onto each other making it impossible to get out the door. The tree in our front yard was uprooted and was leaning about 45 degrees to the right. Our dog spent the night under our car and was unharmed. As a kid, the best part of the storm was that we didn't have school for 9 or 10 days because it was that long before the electricity was restored. We played out in the street, took baths by candlelight and went to bed early because there wasn't much else to do. Even 46 years later I can still remember the power of that hurricane and how much damage it caused--the power of nature is quite impressive and not easy to forget.
Thanks to our mom for the below post about Hurricane Betsy!
From 1963 to 1966 our family lived in New Orleans, LA and we experienced 3 Mardi Gras and 2 hurricanes. Those events were definitely the highlights of our 3 1/2 years in New Orleans. Hurricane Betsy made landfall on September 9, 1965. At the age of thirteen the hurricane was a big adventure. We had our batteries, water, and food that would not need refrigeration. We had a gas stove and hot water heater, so if our electricity went out, we still could cook and have hot water. The hurricane lasted all night and it sounded as if our little one story house would be blown down--but it was made of brick (those three little pigs had it right) and it made it through the storm. However, our trees and bushes around the house were not as fortunate. The two tall evergreens outside our front door collapsed onto each other making it impossible to get out the door. The tree in our front yard was uprooted and was leaning about 45 degrees to the right. Our dog spent the night under our car and was unharmed. As a kid, the best part of the storm was that we didn't have school for 9 or 10 days because it was that long before the electricity was restored. We played out in the street, took baths by candlelight and went to bed early because there wasn't much else to do. Even 46 years later I can still remember the power of that hurricane and how much damage it caused--the power of nature is quite impressive and not easy to forget.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Michael VanDerAa - Using Passenger Lists
***Update: I discovered shortly after posting this that some of the information listed below is incorrect. I wrote a new post here that updates and corrects what I've found.***
After writing my post last week about my great-great-grandfather - John Michael VanDerAa - my grandmother emailed me and let me know that I had the wrong picture - that the man in the picture was actually Michael VanDerAa - John's father (and my 3rd great-grandfather). She also told me what she knew about Michael VanDerAa - so I decided to find out more about him.
My grandmother said that she knew that he came over from Holland with his family and that he had five sons, one of which was her grandfather, John. I decided to search for an immigration record for Michael VanDerAa. Ancestry.com has an extensive list of passenger arrival records and that's where I began. Unfortunately the last name of VanDerAa is often misspelled and also mistranslated and I did not have any luck finding Michael VanDerAa. So - I went back to look at some census records to narrow down the time frame when I could assume he may have arrived. I also wanted to see if he had any family members living near him in any of the records - then I could search on their names also (especially since my grandmother seemed sure that he came over here with his family).
Very quickly I found Michael VanDerAa in both the 1870 and 1880 census, living with his wife Johanna and his children. And living nearby were two other men with the VanDerAa last name, born around the same time - Jacob VanDerAa and Garrett VanDerAa. This gave me a time frame (before 1870) and two other names to search with. So I returned to the passenger lists and searched again. This time I found them! During the indexing process - their name had been read as Vanderau.
Michael VanDerAa arrived in New York on May 3, 1856 on a ship called the Fairfield. The ship came from LeHavre, France. At first I only saw that he was traveling with his siblings - Jacob, Garrett, Wilhelm and Johanna. This was the support I needed to assure me that I had found the correct person. I knew that the census records from 1870 and 1880 were him by the location and names of his wife and children. The fact that Jacob and Garret lived next door to him assured me that they were most likely family - and their ages told me that they were probably his siblings.
But - as I looked closer at the full page of the passenger list - I saw something I missed the first time. Just above Michael and his siblings (with just one passenger listed in between them) was Leinhard and Johanna VanDerAa. Judging by their ages (54) - I had found Michael's parents. This was very exciting because my family did not know the names of the VanDerAa family before Michael (at least not that my grandmother had told me!) So - now we know that they were Leinhard and Johanna - and according to the passenger list - they were born in approximately 1802 in Holland.
One additional piece of research I did was to search for information about the ship they arrived on. In doing so I found an article in the New York Times from May 5, 1856 (two days after they arrived) that described the arrival of their ship and also their journey. The below article is a bit difficult to read, but it says that they left France on March 20, 1856 and while traveling there were 3 births and 4 deaths aboard the ship - and they experienced some difficult seas.
Fascinating to find out what their journey was like coming here to the United States more than 150 years ago. And now I have the names of my 4th great-grandparents that came from Holland. Looks like I need to learn about doing research in the Netherlands!
After writing my post last week about my great-great-grandfather - John Michael VanDerAa - my grandmother emailed me and let me know that I had the wrong picture - that the man in the picture was actually Michael VanDerAa - John's father (and my 3rd great-grandfather). She also told me what she knew about Michael VanDerAa - so I decided to find out more about him.
My grandmother said that she knew that he came over from Holland with his family and that he had five sons, one of which was her grandfather, John. I decided to search for an immigration record for Michael VanDerAa. Ancestry.com has an extensive list of passenger arrival records and that's where I began. Unfortunately the last name of VanDerAa is often misspelled and also mistranslated and I did not have any luck finding Michael VanDerAa. So - I went back to look at some census records to narrow down the time frame when I could assume he may have arrived. I also wanted to see if he had any family members living near him in any of the records - then I could search on their names also (especially since my grandmother seemed sure that he came over here with his family).
Very quickly I found Michael VanDerAa in both the 1870 and 1880 census, living with his wife Johanna and his children. And living nearby were two other men with the VanDerAa last name, born around the same time - Jacob VanDerAa and Garrett VanDerAa. This gave me a time frame (before 1870) and two other names to search with. So I returned to the passenger lists and searched again. This time I found them! During the indexing process - their name had been read as Vanderau.
Michael VanDerAa arrived in New York on May 3, 1856 on a ship called the Fairfield. The ship came from LeHavre, France. At first I only saw that he was traveling with his siblings - Jacob, Garrett, Wilhelm and Johanna. This was the support I needed to assure me that I had found the correct person. I knew that the census records from 1870 and 1880 were him by the location and names of his wife and children. The fact that Jacob and Garret lived next door to him assured me that they were most likely family - and their ages told me that they were probably his siblings.
But - as I looked closer at the full page of the passenger list - I saw something I missed the first time. Just above Michael and his siblings (with just one passenger listed in between them) was Leinhard and Johanna VanDerAa. Judging by their ages (54) - I had found Michael's parents. This was very exciting because my family did not know the names of the VanDerAa family before Michael (at least not that my grandmother had told me!) So - now we know that they were Leinhard and Johanna - and according to the passenger list - they were born in approximately 1802 in Holland.
One additional piece of research I did was to search for information about the ship they arrived on. In doing so I found an article in the New York Times from May 5, 1856 (two days after they arrived) that described the arrival of their ship and also their journey. The below article is a bit difficult to read, but it says that they left France on March 20, 1856 and while traveling there were 3 births and 4 deaths aboard the ship - and they experienced some difficult seas.
Fascinating to find out what their journey was like coming here to the United States more than 150 years ago. And now I have the names of my 4th great-grandparents that came from Holland. Looks like I need to learn about doing research in the Netherlands!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Genealogy Surprise!
Back in the 1970's my cousin worked on our family's genealogy. Because of his hard work, I started my research (in 2000) with many, many names and dates already known. But, as any good genealogist knows, the names and dates are not enough - the proof of each is what is really important. I have slowly been trying to work my way through all the information that he gave me so that I have the proof of each name, date and place.
Today I decided to look at the Gray family. If you look at our website you'll notice that we have a design called "Gray's Diamond". Our paternal grandmother's middle name was Gray. It was also the maiden name of her mother (Olive). Olive was born in Connecticut and I knew that her family was from that general area (near New York City).
To begin my research, I logged in to Ancestry.com and started searching for her grandfather - Richard Sylvester Gray. I started with him because his middle name is rather unique and I was hoping that would make for a quick and easy find. What I found was a book published in 1887 that was a history of the Gray name in the United States. In that book I found Olive's family and it was noted that her great-grandmother - Polly Gray - was still living at the time the book was published (1887) and that she lived with her granddaughter in Connecticut.
Knowing that Polly was living in 1887 and knowing the name of the granddaughter she was living with - I decided to try to find her in the 1880 census. A quick search for Polly Gray gave me not just the 1880 census, but also the 1860 and 1870 ones. Each time she is living with one of her sons. But the last one (in 1880) is what really surprised me. Here's a quick picture below with some key pieces highlighted.
It turns out that Polly (my 4th great-grandmother) was living with her son Henry and his wife Jane in 1880 in Brooklyn, New York. Not only that - but she was living on Graham Avenue. 520 Graham Avenue to be exact. Shocking for me to find this - because in 2008-2009 I lived at 538 Graham Avenue in Brooklyn - just one block away! Below are pictures of our street and our building. It's crazy to think that I used to walk the same streets as my great-great-great-great-grandmother - nearly 130 years later.
Today I decided to look at the Gray family. If you look at our website you'll notice that we have a design called "Gray's Diamond". Our paternal grandmother's middle name was Gray. It was also the maiden name of her mother (Olive). Olive was born in Connecticut and I knew that her family was from that general area (near New York City).
To begin my research, I logged in to Ancestry.com and started searching for her grandfather - Richard Sylvester Gray. I started with him because his middle name is rather unique and I was hoping that would make for a quick and easy find. What I found was a book published in 1887 that was a history of the Gray name in the United States. In that book I found Olive's family and it was noted that her great-grandmother - Polly Gray - was still living at the time the book was published (1887) and that she lived with her granddaughter in Connecticut.
Knowing that Polly was living in 1887 and knowing the name of the granddaughter she was living with - I decided to try to find her in the 1880 census. A quick search for Polly Gray gave me not just the 1880 census, but also the 1860 and 1870 ones. Each time she is living with one of her sons. But the last one (in 1880) is what really surprised me. Here's a quick picture below with some key pieces highlighted.
It turns out that Polly (my 4th great-grandmother) was living with her son Henry and his wife Jane in 1880 in Brooklyn, New York. Not only that - but she was living on Graham Avenue. 520 Graham Avenue to be exact. Shocking for me to find this - because in 2008-2009 I lived at 538 Graham Avenue in Brooklyn - just one block away! Below are pictures of our street and our building. It's crazy to think that I used to walk the same streets as my great-great-great-great-grandmother - nearly 130 years later.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Monday, February 28, 2011
Tombstone Tuesday - Mary Ferris Burlingame
Mary (Ferris) Burlingame is our fourth great-grandmother. Daughter of John and Hannah (Black) Ferris. She was born on this day in 1817 in Eaton, New York. On April 5, 1840 she married John Milton Burlingame and on June 26, 1842 she gave birth to a daughter (our third great-grandmother) - Mary Selina (Burlingame) Haymaker. She died shortly after on August 31, 1842. Above is a picture of her gravestone in Newbury Center Cemetery, Ohio.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Illinois Genealogy - John Michael VanDerAa
**** Update - My grandmother let me know that the picture I posted below is not actually of John VanDerAa - it's of his father Michael! She's given me other information to follow up on - so I'll write a new post soon (with an appropriate picture). ****
I've struggled for years to find time to do my genealogy research. And when I do find a piece of time - I often do a very bad job of documenting what I've done in order to try to find whatever piece of information I am searching for. So - I've decided to use this blog as a place to organize my thoughts on pieces of research that I find time to do. So for today - I'd like to talk about doing research on family in Illinois.
On this day in 1921 my great-great-grandfather, John Michael VanDerAa passed away.
The information that I have on John comes from an old family tree that my mother filled out in April of 1982. The information that she has on her mother's family came from my grandmother. It says the following:
John Michell VanDerAa
Born: May 6, 1878 in South Holland, IL
Married: July 27, 1900 to Agnes Santifort
Died: February 27, 1921 in South Holland, IL
Parents: Michell and Johanna VanDerAa
My first step was to log on to Ancestry.com and do a search for John VanDerAa. I found four different census records that began when John was just 2 years old and ended the year before he died in 1920.
The 1880 census shows him living with his parents - Michael and Johanna in Thorton, Cook County, Illinois.
The 1900 census shows him married to Aggie with a 5 month old daughter - Johanna. It confirmed that he was born in May but listed his birth year as 1877. It also gave a year for his marriage - 1899. Given that the census was done on June 16, 1900 and he was already married with a young daughter - I would say that my marriage information for him may be off by a year - and it's most likely that his marriage was July 27, 1899 - not 1900.
The 1910 census shows him living with his wife and six children (one of whom is my great-grandmother - Cora). It says he's been married for 11 years, is 31 yrs old and is a farmer.
And finally - the 1920 census shows him living with his wife and 9 children. This was just the year before his death.
So far the census information has reinforced the information that John was born in the month of May and has told me that he was most likely married in 1899 and not 1900. But I need to know more to confirm the dates that I have for his birth, marriage and death.
Ancestry.com had one other record for John and that was his WWI draft registration card. It was filled out September 12, 1918 and confirmed that John's birth date was May 6, 1878. So - I have some additional confirmation of his exact date of birth.
Next I did a Google search for "Illinois Cook County vital records" since it appears that John lived his entire life in Cook County. I found that Cook County has a website specifically for genealogists to retrieve vital records. You can do a search online and then request copies of the records to download to your computer and print. The website reminds you that it was not required for any records to be registered with the county until 1916 - although they have many records dating back to 1872. Unfortunately all records before 1872 were destroyed in the Chicago fire of 1871.
I tried searching for John's birth, marriage and death records, but did not have any positive results. I even tried searching using the Soundex Index instead of his exact last name. The Soundex is a single letter followed by 3 numbers that represent the consonants in the name. Unfortunately I had no success. You can fill out a form to request a physical search of the records. This has to be mailed to the county clerk's office and you have to pay $15 for the search (whether it is successful or not). I'm considering doing this for John's death certificate since it occurred after the 1916 date and should be filed in their office.
My next step was to search for information on FindAGrave.com. This website allows you to search for graves by name or browse by cemetery. When I couldn't find John listed by name, I decided to try to find a cemetery name where he may have been buried. I again returned to Ancestry.com and searched for records on his wife - Agnes. I found her name mentioned in some obituary records for a family member that was buried in Oak Lawn Cemetery in South Holland. Unfortunately when I looked at Oak Lawn Cemetery on FindAGrave.com - there were only a few graves listed and none were any family members.
It's now an hour past when I was supposed to go to bed - and I've made some progress - but my next step will be to follow up with my grandmother about other details she may know to help me find both a marriage and death record for her grandfather (Grandma - if you're reading this send me an email!!)
- Susan
I've struggled for years to find time to do my genealogy research. And when I do find a piece of time - I often do a very bad job of documenting what I've done in order to try to find whatever piece of information I am searching for. So - I've decided to use this blog as a place to organize my thoughts on pieces of research that I find time to do. So for today - I'd like to talk about doing research on family in Illinois.
On this day in 1921 my great-great-grandfather, John Michael VanDerAa passed away.
The information that I have on John comes from an old family tree that my mother filled out in April of 1982. The information that she has on her mother's family came from my grandmother. It says the following:
John Michell VanDerAa
Born: May 6, 1878 in South Holland, IL
Married: July 27, 1900 to Agnes Santifort
Died: February 27, 1921 in South Holland, IL
Parents: Michell and Johanna VanDerAa
My first step was to log on to Ancestry.com and do a search for John VanDerAa. I found four different census records that began when John was just 2 years old and ended the year before he died in 1920.
The 1880 census shows him living with his parents - Michael and Johanna in Thorton, Cook County, Illinois.
The 1900 census shows him married to Aggie with a 5 month old daughter - Johanna. It confirmed that he was born in May but listed his birth year as 1877. It also gave a year for his marriage - 1899. Given that the census was done on June 16, 1900 and he was already married with a young daughter - I would say that my marriage information for him may be off by a year - and it's most likely that his marriage was July 27, 1899 - not 1900.
The 1910 census shows him living with his wife and six children (one of whom is my great-grandmother - Cora). It says he's been married for 11 years, is 31 yrs old and is a farmer.
And finally - the 1920 census shows him living with his wife and 9 children. This was just the year before his death.
So far the census information has reinforced the information that John was born in the month of May and has told me that he was most likely married in 1899 and not 1900. But I need to know more to confirm the dates that I have for his birth, marriage and death.
Ancestry.com had one other record for John and that was his WWI draft registration card. It was filled out September 12, 1918 and confirmed that John's birth date was May 6, 1878. So - I have some additional confirmation of his exact date of birth.
Next I did a Google search for "Illinois Cook County vital records" since it appears that John lived his entire life in Cook County. I found that Cook County has a website specifically for genealogists to retrieve vital records. You can do a search online and then request copies of the records to download to your computer and print. The website reminds you that it was not required for any records to be registered with the county until 1916 - although they have many records dating back to 1872. Unfortunately all records before 1872 were destroyed in the Chicago fire of 1871.
I tried searching for John's birth, marriage and death records, but did not have any positive results. I even tried searching using the Soundex Index instead of his exact last name. The Soundex is a single letter followed by 3 numbers that represent the consonants in the name. Unfortunately I had no success. You can fill out a form to request a physical search of the records. This has to be mailed to the county clerk's office and you have to pay $15 for the search (whether it is successful or not). I'm considering doing this for John's death certificate since it occurred after the 1916 date and should be filed in their office.
My next step was to search for information on FindAGrave.com. This website allows you to search for graves by name or browse by cemetery. When I couldn't find John listed by name, I decided to try to find a cemetery name where he may have been buried. I again returned to Ancestry.com and searched for records on his wife - Agnes. I found her name mentioned in some obituary records for a family member that was buried in Oak Lawn Cemetery in South Holland. Unfortunately when I looked at Oak Lawn Cemetery on FindAGrave.com - there were only a few graves listed and none were any family members.
It's now an hour past when I was supposed to go to bed - and I've made some progress - but my next step will be to follow up with my grandmother about other details she may know to help me find both a marriage and death record for her grandfather (Grandma - if you're reading this send me an email!!)
- Susan
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
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