My Search for the Past | Sharing my genealogical research into my family and my husband's family including Biermann, Schatz, Lindner, Maier, Hartley, Sigmund, Brown and allied surnames.

Anna of Kiev – A Notable Royal Wedding for France and My Family Tree – 52 Ancestors 2015 # 23

Posted by Cheryl Biermann Hartley on June 9, 2015 in 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Gary Barlow makes another appearance as a guest blogger this week. In keeping with the Global Family Reunion that took place in New York this past Saturday, June 6, I can now claim a relationship to royalty by marriage through cousin Gary. Here is Gary’s contribution to this week’s 52 Ancestors theme, “Wedding.”

A notable royal wedding for France and my family tree

By Gary Barlow

I recently discovered that one of my ancestral lines descends from members of the British aristocracy. Since then, I’ve found that that’s about as lucky a break as one can get in tracing ancestors. Because British and European nobles have historically placed such a high value on knowing who a person is descended from, the records on their families can go back as much as 1,500 years. Finding those ancestors in my family tree, I also discovered that two of them were married in a wedding that had significant implications in the history of France.

The noble connection for me begins with my 10th great-grandfather, Thomas Warren, born 1604 in Poynton, Cheshire, England. Thomas was the youngest son of Sir Edward Warren, Baron of Stockport, and his wife, Lady Susan Booth. About 1630, like the younger sons of many English nobles, Thomas moved to the American colonies, settling on the south bank of the James River near Jamestown, Virginia. My mother’s grandfather, William Henry Warren, was descended from him.

Going back from Edward Warren, I found that the Warrens had been Barons of Stockport all the way back to the mid-1300s and before that had been Earls of Surrey back to the 1100s. One of those ancestors, Sir John de Warenne (1231-1304), 6th Earl of Surrey, married Alice de Lusignan (1224-1291). They were my 24th great-grandparents. Alice de Lusignan in turn was the daughter of Hugh de Lusignan (1183-1249), Count of La Marche and Angouleme, and his wife Isabella Taillefer (1188-1246), who was the widow of King John of England (1166-1216) when she married Hugh de Lusignan. Isabella Taillefer was the granddaughter of King Louis VI of France (1081-1137) and Adelaide de Maurienne (1092-1154). That made all the previous kings of France my ancestors, going back to Hugh Capet (941-996), considered to be the first king of the state that grew into France.

Statue of Anna of Kiev erected in 2005 near her purported place of burial.

One of the most remarkable of those ancestors is my 30th great-grandmother, Anna Yaroslavna, also known as Anne of Kiev, a princess who became queen of France upon her marriage to King Henry I of France on May 19, 1051, at the Reims Cathedral. Anna was born about 1030, one of eight children of Grand Prince Yaroslav I of Kiev (983-1054) and Ingegerd Olofsdotter (1001-1050), who was the daughter of Sweden’s King Olof. Yaroslav I ruled what’s known historically as Kievan Rus, the forerunner of the state that became Russia.

Before his marriage to Anna, France’s King Henry I had searched in vain for a suitable royal princess to marry and produce an heir. His first wife had died in childbirth and he was getting old for a man of that era. The available princesses of nearby states were too closely related to Henry for marriage, so finally he sent a delegation to distant Kiev, which was a rapidly growing military and political power under the leadership of Yaroslav I, known historically as “Yaroslav the Wise.” In fact, through shrewd alliances and marriages of his children to royal families in the Byzantine Empire, Norway, Poland, Hungary, and England, Yaroslav had greatly enhanced the power and prestige of his kingdom. Yaroslav also encouraged the arts and education and financed the building of significant cathedrals and churches in the Byzantine style. Kiev and Yaroslav’s court were, in fact, a much more refined and sophisticated city and royal court than Paris or Henry’s court at the time.

Marriage document signed by Henry and Anna

So when Anna arrived in France to marry Henry, he and his court must have been shocked to discover that Anna was very well-educated in history and politics and was fluent in five languages, including Latin and Greek. She had even learned French before her arrival. Neither Henry nor most of his court could even read and write. For her part, Anna was a bit shocked at first as well, writing to her father soon after her arrival that France was “a barbarous country where the houses are gloomy, the churches ugly, and the customs revolting.” She added that they didn’t bathe enough either and had served only three courses at her wedding banquet, in comparison to the five-course dinners she was used to every day in Kiev.

Marriage of Henry and Anna from “Chroniques de St. Denis,” dated in the mid-1300s.

To his credit, Henry quickly realized how lucky he had been in his choice of a queen. He learned to consult her on his decisions, and in the remaining nine years of his life and reign many of his royal decrees included the inscriptions “With the consent of my wife Anna” and “In the presence of Queen Anna,” the only royal decrees in French history to bear such inscriptions. Many royal documents included Anna’s signature as well.

She did produce an heir for Henry, naming their son Philip, a name she brought from her knowledge of Greek history, thus introducing the name into the Western European royal tradition. The regard that Anna came to be held in by the French nobility and people was so high that when her son inherited the crown as King Philip I at age eight, Anna was chosen to serve as regent until he came of age six years later, the first queen ever appointed regent in French history. Another son, Hugh, was the founder of the Orleans branch of the French royal house.

Anna died Sept. 5, 1075, and is believed to have been buried at Villiers Abbey, which she had founded, in La Ferte-Alais, Essonne, France. A statue of her was erected and unveiled near there June 22, 2005, in a ceremony attended by President Victor Yushchenko of Ukraine, and French and UNESCO officials.

Tags: Anna of Kiev, Gary Barlow, Henry I of France Permalink

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The Vonder Halbens – Education Was the Family Business – 52 Ancestors 2015 #22

Posted by Cheryl Biermann Hartley on June 2, 2015 in 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, Lindner

When my great-grandfather Gottlob Maier immigrated to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1881, he already had family there. Three uncles, Johann Friedrich (Frederick), Christian and Karl Wilhelm (Charles) Maier, previously had made the move from Plieningen near Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg. This week for the theme of “Commencement” I will focus on the grandchildren of Christian Maier and Christinia Sophie Renner Maier, who had four daughters. Their eldest, Bertha (1857-1935), married William Vonder Halben (1847 – 1920). William was an emigre from Hannover who was a journalist and editor for the German newspaper, the Cincinnati Volksfreund. He was musically inclined and at one time reported on the Cincinnati music world. Later he was the commercial editor. Together Bertha and William produced three children who became teachers and one that became a university registrar.

William Vonder Halben Jr. was born 21 May 1885. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1910 and became a German teacher in the Cincinnati school system. He married Elsa Elizabeth Pfaffinger of New York, who graduated from the university in 1908.

William Vonder Halben - 1925 Woodward High Yearbook- Cincinnati, Ohio

William Vonder Halben – 1925 Woodward High School Yearbook- Cincinnati, Ohio (found on DeadFred.com)

The second child, Emilie Vonder Halben (born about 1886), seems to be the only child who did not pursue education beyond the 8th grade. She married Otto F. Winkleman and had one child.

Elenora Clara Vonder Halben was known as “Ella” and born in December of 1890. She was the first of the Vonder Halben daughters to attend the University of Cincinnati. Ella was accomplished in German, as one may have expected. She was the Secretary of the German Club in her junior year and the President in her senior year. She also was in the Girl’s Club, the Women’s League and the University Club. She made a career of teaching school.

Eleanor Clara Vonder Halben – 1913 Cincinnatian, University of Cincinnati

Matilda “Tillie” Vonder Halben came into the world on 22 Jul 1892. Two years behind Ella, she followed closely in her footsteps at the University of Cincinnati, graduating in 1915. She was even more involved in school extracurricular acclivities than was Ella. Besides being a leader in the German Club like her sister, she was also part of the Blue Hydra (a biology club) and the History Club. Tillie taught school, and I was even to locate several published lesson plans for social studies from a 1919 publication, “Lesson Plans in English, Arithmetic and Geography, for Grades Fourth to Eighth.” It is available on Google Books.

Matilda Vonder Halben – 1915 Cincinnatian, University of Cincinnati

The last child was Frieda Vonder Halben, born 30 April 1894. She did not go to university. Instead she graduated from the Cincinnati Night School where she pursued her interest in senior bookkeeping. At first was a clerk at the University of Cincinnati, but she eventually was promoted to registrar. Her night school yearbook described her as having a shy temperament, which may be why teaching didn’t suit her.

Frieda Vonder Halben – East Night High School -Senior Class – 1914

Ella, Tillie and Frieda never married. They lived together and, according to census records, appear to have done so with comfortable means. My mother remembered their mother as “Aunt Bertha,” a woman who was kind to her family during the depression. She brought her Lindner cousins lovely “hand-me-down” clothes that were worn by my mother and my aunt.

I was able to document the graduates of the University of Cincinnati using “Directory of Living Graduates, May, 1920” by the University of Cincinnati Alumni Association. I think it is rather extraordinary that this family was so dedicated to education. Ella and Tillie are among the few women in my family that I have found who where college graduates this early in he last century.

Tags: Cincinnati, Maier, Mayer, Pleiningen, Vonder Halben Permalink

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Louise Miller Wessa Bell – She Married Two Military Men – 52 Ancestors 2015 #21

Posted by Cheryl Biermann Hartley on May 27, 2015 in 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, Biermann

My great-grandaunt Louise was the youngest of the Miller children, born to Andrew Miller and Kate Wippel Miller on 7 May 1885 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Miller family was comprised of seven sisters: Anna, Katherine, Augusta, Helen, Mary, Eva and Louise; and, one brother: Philipp. Augusta (Gustie) was my grandmother’s mother, so the rest of the siblings were her aunts and uncle. As I was growing up I heard snatches of conversation about several of the aunts, particularly Katherine (Patterson), Helen (Berg) and Louise (Wessa Bell). The one trait that stood out about Aunt Louise was that she was a warm and wonderful human being – everyone said so.

Louise Miller Wessa Bell

Andrew and Kate Miller married and raised there family in Pomeroy, Ohio, until sometime in the 1870’s. Perhaps they were driven out by the big fire in Pomeroy in April 1877; or, maybe Andrew’s chronic illnesses, which he attributed to his Civil War service, made it too difficult to continue to earn a living as a cooper there. In 1880, the Millers were in Cincinnati, but later they moved on to Dayton, presumably because Andrew was admitted to the National Military (Old Soldier’s) Home. Ruth Kortgardner, one of Louise’s grandnieces and a contemporary of my father, knew Aunt Louise. She said that Aunt Louise told her that she and her sisters used to walk past the Wright Brother’s bicycle shop in Dayton.

Aunt Louise somehow moved to California by 1909. I am unsure of the circumstances that took her there. As often happens with distant family, no one could tell me much about her life in California. About 15 years ago, I began my search for Aunt Louise’s story. My mother was the one who thought that her married name had been Bell. I was lucky to locate Louise in the California Death Index. She died in Los Angeles in 1961, when I was a girl. I vaguely remember the news of her passing. Because the death index gave her mother’s maiden name as Whipple, I knew that I had found the correct Louise Bell. I also knew that Louise had been married more than one time. I still needed to find both of her husbands.

Four of the Miller Sisters: Helen Berg, Gustie Schatz, Louise Wessa Bell, and Katherine Patterson (seated)

Husband number one was easier to locate than husband number two. Fifteen years ago, there were fewer censuses available for public access. It was Louise’s date of birth that helped me find her burial location. Louise was buried with her first married name “Wessa,” not “Bell” at Los Angeles National Cemetery. The name Wessa gave me a little jolt. It was a surname that I recognized from my research in Pomeroy, Ohio. I determined that Louise’s first husband was Henry Wessa.

Three Young Miller Sisters: Loiuse, Helen and Gustie

I confess that there are times while I am researching that my imagination runs wild. I discovered Henry Wessa as a Sergeant in the Ohio 187^th Regiment, Company K, and knew that was the same regiment and company of Louise’s father. I was slightly horrified. I hoped and prayed that Louise had not married a man who would have been nearly 50 years her senior! Thank goodness I learned that Henry Wessa had a son, Henry Ellsmith Wessa. Henry E. Wessa was born in 1865 in Pomeroy, Ohio, (or Kentucky – the records vary). This still means that he was 20 years older than Louise. Henry E. Wessa was a career soldier. He enlisted in the 2^nd U.S. Cavalry in 1898 and served in the Spanish American War. Henry’s civilian occupation was noted to be a puddler, a skilled job in an ironworks. His service records show that he was posted in Cuba and the Phillipines. In 1900 he was stationed at Hamilton Barracks at Matanzas, Cuba, located about 57 miles west of Havana. In 1902, when he reenlisted for the third time, he did so from Santa Mesa, near Manila, in the Philippine Islands. His record indicates that that he was a cook during this time.

Eventually, Henry Wessa left the military on a disability discharge. I located his pension index card and was curious about the contents of his pension file. About 10 years ago, I wrote to the National Archives requesting a copy of Henry’s pension record, but they responded that they were unable to locate his file.

Henry Wessa Pension Index Card – National Archives and Records Administration. U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934

The Register of Enlistments in the United States Army for 1907 gives his last date of service as 16 December 1907 due to disability. There is another date 6 July 1909, but it is not clear to me what that means. The remarks in the record say that he was “Dis. at G.H. San Francisco, Cal.” I wonder if “G.H.” refers to General Hospital. Despite his long service, Henry Wessa never rose above the rank of Private.

Where and when Louise Miller came together with Henry Wessa is unclear, but they married in Alameda County on 13 August 1909. There is no indication that Henry was previously married, even though he was already 44 years old. He worked on and off as a cook. By 1916, Henry was admitted to the U.S. National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Los Angeles. He was still an “inmate” there for the 1920 census and may have been there for the remainder of his life. Henry Wessa died on 6 March 1928.

A few years back, I stumbled across Louise Miller in a family tree on Ancestry.com, and this is how I learned that her second husband was Leander Perry Bell. I contacted the owner of the tree, Mary Lou, and she told me that Leander Bell was her granduncle (her father’s uncle). Mary Lou’s family was very close to Aunt Louise, even though they were only related to her by marriage. Mary Lou explained that she has some postcards written between Henry and Louise. Mary Lou said that some are quite romantic. I would love to see them, because they may show that Louise met Henry back in Ohio. Clearly, their fathers had a connection.

It turns out that Leander “Lee” Bell was also a soldier during the Spanish American War. In June 1898 he volunteered for the 49^th Iowa, Company B and he mustered out in May 1899. He too, was disabled and drew a pension for his military service. It now seems likely that Louise met Lee at the National Disabled Soldier’s home in L.A. where her husband, Henry, resided. Lee Bell entered the home in April of 1921 and his medical problems are listed as “defective vision, chronic gastritis, and occasional vertigo.”

Leander Perry Bell (Courtesy of his niece)

Louise and Leander Bell married on 28 August 1928, five months after Henry’s death. Lee was about 10 years Louise’s senior and, sadly, he passed away in 1941. After that, Louise never married again. She never had any children with either husband and, so, she is now remembered as a favorite aunt.

Tags: Bell, Cincinnati, Miller, Pomeroy Ohio, Wessa Permalink

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John L. Sigmund – A Black Sheep in My Mind – 52 Ancestors 2015 #20

Posted by Cheryl Biermann Hartley on May 21, 2015 in 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, Sigmund

Technically, John L Sigmund may not have been a “black sheep” but for some reason, I just never had a good feeling about my husband’s 3rd great-grandfather. When I began researching him, I couldn’t put my finger on it. He was born about 1821-1823 to Jacob Sigmund, Jr. and Catherine Letherman Sigmund and he died in 1885. The middle initial “L” probably stood for Letherman. No one in the family really remembers him, so my strong inclination to dislike him sometimes seems irrational. Perhaps my sentiments came about because John Sigmund just didn’t feel like a family man, but it is difficult to say if this was entirely his fault.

John Sigmund married young. He wed Isabella Morris Heritage at St Paul’s Episcopal Church on 2 September 1842. They were both about 20 years old and the marriage record states they were both from Moyamensing, Philadelphia, PA. This has the appearance of a “gunshot wedding,” since the couple’s first child, William Robert Sigmund, was born 4 January 1843. The second child was Catharine, born two years later. Despite two children and a wife, John Sigmund is not living with them in the 1850 census. In 1850, Isabella and her children are living with the family of John Sigmund’s brother, Houston Sigmund. He is living with his parents. In 1860, John and Isabella seem to have reconciled. George Sigmund, a third child appears in the 1860 census. It gives his age as eight. If this was a period of reconciliation, it did not last. In 1862, Isabella married Isaiah J. Jones. The 1860 census gives John’s occupation as shoemaker. This is important, because it distinguishes him from another John Sigmund in Philadelphia who was a cordwainer.

A few years ago I was looking into the Civil War service records of some of my husband’s ancestors. John’s son, William Robert Sigmund, as I reported earlier, fought and was wounded at Gettysburg. I was surprised to learn that John Sigmund enlisted for one year in the 68th Regiment of Pennsylvania, Company C, on 20 Feb 1865. I located his card in the Civil War Veterans’ Card File of the Pennsylvania Archives. I learned that John L. Sigmund, shoemaker of Philadelphia, was under arrest at Hart Island, NY. Hart Island is located about 20 miles north of NY City. Beginning in April 1865, Hart Island was used as an internment camp for Confederate prisoners. Clearly, it was also used to hold Union soldiers who were under arrest.

So far I have not located all the details, but it appears that when the rest of the 68th was mustering out, John L. Sigmund was in prison. The muster role shows, “Stoppages 60.00 for apprehension. Still under arrest awaiting action of the proper authorities.” Since a number of other prisoners are listed as deserters, but John Sigmund is not, I am guessing that was not his crime. I don’t know what it was, but I knew my suspicions of John L Sigmund had a foundation. Who were the proper authorities, if not his commanding officers?

However the charges were resolved, life did not seem to be going John Sigmund’s way. The 1870 census found him in the Philadelphia Almshouse. It seems to get harder and harder to track John after 1870. he may be the John Sigmund who is a huckster in the 1872 Philadelphia City Directory. One has to wonder why he didn’t pursue his trade of shoemaker. John L. Sigmund died of a “fatty heart” on 21 Aug 1885.

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Augusta Gustave Catharina de la Marche – Locating My Ancestor the Hard Way – 52 Ancestors 2015 #19

Posted by Cheryl Biermann Hartley on May 13, 2015 in 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, Lindner

The optional theme for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks this week is “There’s a Way.” I agree. There often is a way to find that elusive genealogical record, but sometimes it’s the hard way!

Augusta Gustave Catharina de la Marche is one of my ancestors who married a descendant of Martin Luther. She is mentioned in Die Nachkommenschaft D. Martin Luthers in vier Jahrhunderten. Nebst Anhang über Nachkommen seiner Seitenverwandten und vieler anderer Luther, by Otto Sartorius, published in Göttingen in 1926. This book outlines my ancestors in a direct line back to Martin Luther the Reformer, my 11th great-grandfather.

Tafel for Johann Ernst Teubner (Sartorius, Otto; Die Nachkommenschaft D. Martin Luthers in vier Jahrhunderten. Nebst Anhang über Nachkommen seiner Seitenverwandten und vieler anderer Luther; Göttingen, 1926; p. 166

Augusta Gustave Catharina de la Marche (“de la Marchin” is the feminine form of the surname) is my 7th great-grandmother. The only information given about her is the vital statistics – dates of birth, marriage and death. Her parents were not mentioned.

Reference to Augusta Katharina de la Marche, (Sartorius, op. cit.; p. 18)

At a young age, I was intrigued by Catharina de la Marche’s French-sounding name. She was born in Strasbourg on 26 April 1658. Strasbourg is in currently in the Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France; yet, Catharina married Johann Ernst Teubner, pastor of the Lutheran Church in Zeitz, Saxony-Anhalt, on 19 June 1683 at the age of 25. The two cities lie 473 kilometers apart; and, while the bride probably didn’t walk to her new home, this would have been a long journey in 1683.

Walking Route from Strasbourg to Zeitz (Google Maps, retrieved 12 May, 2015)

Because I was so fascinated, I spent many hours searching for more information on my de la Marche ancestor. There are historic references to the Counts of la Marche beginning in the 10th century, but I never found any connection of my family to this nobility. Of course, la Marche is also a place name, so it is likely to have been the origin of the surname. I tried a few message board posts back in the 1990’s, but I never found any clue to the identity of Augusta Catharina de la Marche.

Last year I learned that Les Archives Départementales du Bas-Rhin has an excellent collection of scanned church books available online. (If you decide to use this site and do not read French, like me, please be sure to check the box at the bottom of the page so you can proceed. You are accepting the terms and conditions.) When I investigated this website, I was pleased that the records of Strasbourg were included. There are 15 Roman Catholic churches and 13 Lutheran churches represented in the collection. None of these are electronically indexed, although a most of the church books have handwritten indexes within their pages. It is literally like pulling a book from the shelf in a library and paging through it.

So began my morning routine of hunting for Augusta Gustave Catharina de la Marche over a cup of coffee. This was before an updated cable modem that was bottle-necking my download speed. At least I felt fairly confident that I could start with the Lutheran records. After all, my ancestress married a Lutheran minister. I didn’t search every day. Even when the records were indexed, I really wasn’t sure under what letter the name would be filed – “D,” “L,” or “M.” To be thorough, I tried them all. The names were mostly familiar to me from my German research. I was surprised that the names didn’t sound more French.

I had reached my 12th Protestant parish on a Sunday morning in late January of this year. St. Thomas parish had an index, but it left me bewildered. I seemed to be using the wrong index. Sometimes, it is simply easier to look at the records chronologically. I pinpointed the correct volume for baptisms in 1658. Then I paged to the year and month. Was I imagining things? There is was. Or, at least, I thought so. I was going to need some help reading this. (Image unavailable due to copyright restrictions. See Strasbourg, St. Thomas Parish, Baptisms, volume 250, page 160, #771)

I asked for assistance from the Alsace Genealogy Facebook group. It didn’t take long. I was in touch with expert help. Alex Bueno-Edwards responded with a translation for me:

Dom. [Sunday] Jubilate the 2nd of May baptized at home by permission of the Ammeister [lit= Dn. Consuli or Lord Consul – the Ammeister was equivalent of the mayor of Strassburg] – Parents H[err] Franz la Marche[der] Dantzmeister [the dance instructor] and Margaretha. Daughter Augusta Gustave Catharian

Godparents 1) Hr. Johann Augustus, the Prince of Holstein; 2) Hr. Georg Dietrich Zorn von Plobsheim, the Stettmeister [the noble figurehead leader of the city]; 3) Jgfr. Ursula Catharina von Lutzelburg, daughter of Hr. Antonius von Lutzelburg, the Oberamtmann of Oberkirch [in modern Baden]; 4) Jgfr. Anna Antonia von Lutzelburg, daughter of the same; 5) Jgfr. Bernigna? von Dettlingen, daughter of Hr. Meylach von Dettlingen

Alex Bueno-Edwards continued:

I can tell you a few things about this record (having more than 800 pages of typewritten notes from the Strassburg parish registers). First, she had only noble godparents and an exceptional number of them. The usual was 2 of the gender of the child and 1 other. Second, the name is definitely French and the language of the record is entirely German other than a few Latin words. The record is from the parish register of St. Thomas (I can tell from the handwriting) and that was a parish with a lot of wealthy people.

Mr. Bueno-Edwards was a great help to me. He went on to point me to several other children of Franz de la Marche and his wife Margareta (last name unknown). Their births and a death happened between the years of 1652 and 1661. All had noble godparents.

This was surprising information. Who was this dance master who wielded so much influence? Again, Mr. Bueno-Edwards was able to shed some light on Franz, but I will save that story for another time, as my 8th great-grandfather still needs further research.

How did Augusta Gustave Catharina de la Marchin meet Johann Ernst Tuebner, the great, great grandson of Martin Luther? It is possible that he was a theology student at the University in Strasbourg. It is my understanding that they taught a conservative Lutheran doctrine there. Catharina’s father supposedly died in 1676, but this may be an error. Margareta de la Marche, Catharina’s mother died in Strasbourg in 1665 and her father remarried. At this point, it is not known where Margaretha was from or her surname, and, so, there are many unanswered questions. I continue to page through Strasbourg church records looking for clues “the hard way.” I guess I have to admit, though, it could have been worse. At least I didn’t have to fly to Strasbourg and search the records in person. On the other hand, maybe a trip to Strasbourg wouldn’t be so bad!

Tags: de la Marche, descendants of Martin Luther the Reformer, Les Archives Départementales du Bas-Rhin, Martin Luther, Otto Sartorius, Strasbourg, Teubner, Zeitz Permalink

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Hannah Hartley Ingham – Where There’s a Will, There Might Be a Clue – 52 Ancestors 2015 #18

Posted by Cheryl Biermann Hartley on May 5, 2015 in 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, Hartley

Years ago, I tracked down William Hartley, my husband’s 3rd great-grandfather and black sheep of the family. William Hartley (born 1796 in Thornton near Bradford, Yorkshire, England) was a convicted felon who was dramatically apprehended by the local constable trying to pass two forged bank notes worth 10 pounds at an inn. This is the crime of “uttering”, and for it he received the sentence of transportation to Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) for 14 years. Having discovered this information earned me a nickname from my husband – “Dirt Digging Devil Wife.” That name is all in fun…I think. (William Hartley’s story is here and a follow up on his wife Martha Sutcliffe Hartley, bigamist, here.)

Despite having found a lot of information about William Hartley related to his crime and his subsequent pardon, I had not had much luck learning what became of the Hartley children later in life. Here are the children who were recorded for William Hartley and Martha Sutcliffe Hartley:

Hannah Hartley: Born 11 Dec 1814 in Thornton, Yorkshire, England
Sarah Hartley: Born 12 Dec 1816
John Hartley: Born 09 Aug 1819 in Ovenden, Yorkshire, England
Henry Hartley: 26 Jun 1822 in Ovenden, Yorkshire, England
Richard Hartley: Born 18 May 1826 in Ovenden, Yorkshire, England
Frederick Hartley: Born 07 OCT 1831 in Ovenden, Yorkshire, England; died 14 Feb 1868 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

My husband’s 2nd great-grandfather, Frederick, was just one year old in 1832 when his father was transported. Like many youngest children, he is the one appears to have stayed closest to his mother into early adulthood. However, in 1853, Frederick took off to the New World accompanied by his wife Mary Ann Hainsworth Hartley, leaving his mother behind in England.

I have pieced together only fragments of what may have happened to the Hartley family after William Hartley’s conviction. Filling in your family tree can be a lot like be a lot like working on a gigantic jigsaw puzzle. Sometimes you have to find one special piece in order to help you put together part of the picture.

It occurred to me that I had never located a will for William Hartley. After William finished his sentence, he made his way from Van Demien’s Land to Melbourne, Victoria. I knew full well that he was a property owner. He was a freeholder, having a cottage at 80 Rose Street, Fitzroy. Some years ago I connected with a resident of Melbourne who lived near that address on the Rootsweb Melbourne mailing list. She offered to see if the cottage was still standing, but when she checked it out she found a parking lot.

Current view of 80 Rose Street, Fitzroy, Melbourne, Australia

Since I have a date of death for William Hartley, 26 November 1874, the will was easily located from the Public Records Office of Victoria. There were three files, but only two of them were available for digital download. (Be forewarned, these files take a very long time to download.)

William Hartley’s will seemed to incur the displeasure of his wife, Martha, who was named as heir. There seemed to be some dispute over the appointed executors. One was a gardener named William Johns(t)on and the other an erstwhile politician named Edward Delbridge. What William’s relationship was with these two men is unclear, but they were replaced by two attorneys who ultimately probated the estate. I was surprised to learn that William Hartley owned three cottages on the same property that were rented out to provide income. Martha lived in a 4th “worn” cottage.

The greatest value of this will for genealogical purposes is that William named his daughter as the successor to inherit after her mother’s demise. He specifically stated her name as Hannah Ingham, now wife of John Ingham residing at Hoppet Nell Green, Thornton, Bradford, Yorkshire. Finally, here was clue to lead me to one of William and Martha’s adult children!

Hannah Ingham mention in Father's Will 1874

Excerpt of William Hartley’s Will Naming Hannah Hartley Ingham from Public Records Office of Victoria

Hannah Hartley was the eldest of William’s children, born 11 December 1812.

Hannah Hartley Bapt Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers

England & Wales, Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers, 1567-1970 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

It is probable that she was named for William’s mother, Hannah Charnock. Hannah Hartley would have been about 18 when William was transported and already married. I discovered that she married John Ingham when she was just 15 years of age. John was about 19 at the time and was a worsted weaver. Hannah was listed on the marriage record as a “minor.” She wasn’t even old enough to receive the usual designation of “spinster” that was typically applied to females.

West Yorkshire Archive Service; Wakefield, Yorkshire, England; Yorkshire Parish Records; Old Reference Number: 40D90/1/3/14; New Reference Number: BDP14

I have tracked down six children that were born to Hannah and John Ingham:

Richard Ingham: Born 1834 in Yorkshire, England; died 1 May 1847 in Denholme, Yorkshire, England
Henry Ingham: Born 1839 in Thornton, Yorkshire, England
Benjamin Ingham: Born 1842 in Thornton, Yorkshire, England: died 19 Dec 1860 in Denholme, Yorkshire, England
Mary Ann Ingham: Born 1845 in Clayton, Yorkshire, England
Hartley Ingham: Born January 1850 in Thornton, Yorkshire, England; died 19 July 1866 in Bradford, Yorkshire, England
Maria Ingham: Born 1853 in Thornton, Yorkshire, England: died 7 April 1867 in Denholme, Yorkshire, England

Sadly, four of six children, Richard, Benjamin, Hartley and Maria, died in their teen years. The other two, Henry and Mary Ann, still remain unfound. Mary Ann Ingham holds the distinction (at least for me) of being the youngest child I have seen enumerated as having a job. She was an errand girl at age five.

I have to admit that the will of William Hartley had me puzzling over why none of his children other than Hannah were listed as heirs. There may be a very simple explanation. It is possible that they were all dead. I know that the youngest, Frederick, died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1868 of tuberculosis .

Tags: Fitzroy, Ingham, Melbourne, Suttcliffe, Thornton Yorkshire Permalink

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The Kessler Brothers in Stockholm – How They Prospered after Leaving Germany – 52 Ancestors 2015 #17

Posted by Cheryl Biermann Hartley on April 28, 2015 in 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, Lindner

I am pleased to introduce a new guest blogger to My Search for the Past. Last week I mentioned how Dr. Ingemar Nåsell, a Swede, found me through my blog. I had no idea that I had cousins in Sweden as the only family I knew of there was my granduncle, Kurt Lindner, who had no children. Dr. Nåsell had a number of surprises in store for me, and you can read about what I learned in last week’s entry. This week, he will tell our family’s story from his side of the Big Pond.

Dr. Nåsell comes from a small farming village called Nås. Professionally, he is a mathematician. He earned his PhD in mathematics from NYU and has taught mathematics at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, (Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan, KTH). While he no longer teaches, he is still active in research. Beyond mathematics, Dr. Nåsell has a special interest in locating the descendents of a small group of farmers who emigrated from his home village of Nås to Jerusalem in 1896 to join what became known as the American Colony. Their purpose was to be there when Jesus returned from heaven. Especially lucky for me, Ingemar Nåsell has also taken on the role of family historian for his family and his wife’s. Here is his offering for this weeks theme, “Prosper.”

The Kessler Brothers in Stockholm – By Ingemar Nåsell

This story deals with two Kessler brothers who were born in Germany and moved to Sweden where they married and raised large families, and with some of their kin. The story is written by Ingemar Nåsell, at the invitation of Cheryl Biermann Hartley. I married into the Kessler family 58 years ago.

The two brothers Kessler were born in Freiberg which lies in Sachsen (Saxony) in the southeastern part of Germany. The elder of the two brothers was Herman Paul Kessler, born in 1858, and the younger one was Heinrich Oswald Kessler, born in 1863. Their father, Friedrich Ernst Kessler, was a carpenter and timber man. Both of the brothers received education to journeymen in similar trades. Paul is reported to have been a baker and a butcher, while Oswald was a butcher. Both of them left Freiberg and went on customary journeyman wanderings, in Swedish gesällvandringar.

The younger of the two brothers, Oswald, is reported to have visited Austria, Switzerland, Russia, and even Brazil in addition to Germany on his wanderings before he arrived in Stockholm in Sweden in 1889. Here he established himself very quickly. One of his granddaughters, Kerstin Cederlund, tells me that when Oswald visited a milk shop, he found the young woman who was serving him to be proper and industrious. Her name was Marie Sörensen, referred to as Maria in Swedish. She was born in Denmark in 1860, and had emigrated to Sweden a few years earlier together with her parents and sisters. Oswald and Maria were married in 1890! Furthermore, Oswald started an enterprise producing and selling meat products and sausages during his first year in Sweden, 1889. A sign that he really liked his new country is that he became a Swedish citizen the same year.

The elder of the two brothers, Paul, went on his wandering in 1875. Between 1877 and 1892 he is reported to have lived in Hamburg. In 1892, three years after Oswald, he came to Stockholm. Here, he lived at the same street address as Oswald with family, and he worked in Oswald’s business. Within two or three years he was also married. He found a German woman, Maria Lau, who had emigrated to Sweden.

The name of Oswald’s enterprise was changed to ”Bröderna Kesslers Charkuterier” (”The Delicatessen of the Kessler Brothers”) on or before 1897. The two brothers are said to have liked each other a lot. One sign of this is each of them named his eldest son after his brother. It is not clear if the name of the enterprise really means that they both owned it. But we know that they separated later in life, and that they then lived at different addresses. In spite of this, the name of the company continued to refer to the Kessler Brothers. But Oswald ran it alone.

The Oswald Kessler Family

The title of this story is prosper. Oswald prospered in Sweden. He and his wife had eight children in 1891-1903. The whole family is shown here in 1906. In the back row we see the eldest son Paul (15 years old), the father Oswald (43), and Ernst (14), and in the front row the mother Marie (46), Elsa (3), Albert (10), Sven (5), Carl (3), Greta (8), and Maria (13). All the children survived to grown-up age. Five of them married, but together they had only eight children.

Oswald’s company also prospered. In 1915 he moved to new and large quarters in the southern part of Stockholm. The next picture shows the beautiful factory buildings in Jugend style. (I believe it is called Art Noveau in English).

Observe the castle-like building in the background. Here Oswald lived with his family, and also had some office space. The picture was taken around 1926. You can see on the court that both horse-drawn carriages (on the left) and automobiles (on the right) were then used for transportation and delivery.

Kessler Factory in Stockholm – circa 1926

Original Plans for Kessler Factory

The beautiful facade of the building at the back is seen in the drawing to the right. I found it in the Stockholm City Archive.

Oswald experienced great dramatic changes in his life, both up and down. First, he took part in the growth of the very successful business that he started with two empty hands. But at the end of his life, he also saw a decline. The business did not survive into the next generation. Some of his sons worked in his company, but most of them lacked the personal qualities required to run a large business. Oswald himself had a strong personality, and was clearly a forceful leader, but these qualities were not inherited by his sons. I can imagine that this was experienced as very tragic by Oswald.

Paul’s family was smaller than Oswald’s. He had 6 children, but one of them died as a baby, and another one died at the age of 17. Paul had a company of his own, also working, like Oswald, in the food business.

Oswald was very hospitable, and liked to have his family around him. He lived to the age of 93, dying in 1956. I was privileged to meet him at the end of his years; I married his granddaughter Anne-Marie in 1956, just two months before Oswald died. He was talkative and entertaining. He told me about adventures during his wanderings. I knew some German from having studied it in school in Sweden for six years. So Oswald talked to me in German. But the conversation was not entirely successful; Oswald’s German Saxony dialect differed enough from school German to be hard to follow.

The brothers Paul and Oswald had a sister, Anna Marie Kessler. She was born in Freiberg in 1861. In 1884, unmarried, she had a son, Oskar Paul Kessler. During the first years of his life he lived with his grand-parents. Three years later, in 1887, Anna Marie married Max Lindner and bore three more sons: Max, Otto, and Kurt. Cheryl Hartley blogged last year about Anna Marie in “Marie Kessler Lindner – A Terrible Way To Die – 52 Ancestors #3”.

Two of Anna Marie’s sons came to Sweden, the oldest one to visit and the youngest one first to visit and then to stay. Thus, Oskar Paul came in 1897, when he was only 12 years old. He stayed with Oswald and his family and worked as an apprentice in Oswald’s business. After two or three years in Sweden, he went back to Germany. Cheryl Hartley wrote a blog about Oskar Paul last week in “Oskar Paul Kessler – This Is Why I Blog – 52 Ancestors 2015 #16”.

Anna Marie’s youngest son, Kurt Lindner, was born in Dresden in 1893. He first visited Sweden in 1914. I have found him on a picture that was taken in the summer of that year at Oswald’s beautiful summer house Bergshyddan (“The mountain chalet”) in the Stockholm Archipelago. I know this place well, since I now live there year round. The picture was taken at a celebration that was held 25 years after Oswald started his business. After this visit to Sweden, Kurt Lindner went back to Germany. He fought on the German side in WW1. But after that he returned to Sweden to settle.

He married a Swedish woman, Wilma, but had no children. Cheryl Hartley has blogged about Kurt in “Willy Kurt Richard Lindner – Motorrad Mars – 52 Ancestors 2014 #14”. Kurt Lindner belonged to the Kessler family. The latest picture that I have with Oswald Kessler was taken in 1955, when he turned 92. Kurt Lindner and his wife were both there to take part in the birthday celebrations!

I thank the four grandchildren of Oswald Kessler that are still alive, namely Gudrun Hagman (87 years old, Greta’s daughter), Kerstin Cederlund (86 years, Elsa’s daughter), Lars Kessler (82 years, Ernst’s son), and my wife Anne-Marie Nåsell (82 years, Albert’s daughter), for checking my story about Kessler in Sweden.

Tags: Anna Maria Kessler, Kessler, Nåsell, Stockholm Permalink

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Oskar Paul Kessler – This Is Why I Blog – 52 Ancestors 2015 #16

Posted by Cheryl Biermann Hartley on April 21, 2015 in 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, Lindner

Our theme this week is “Live Long.” Trying the obvious approach, I combed through my family tree and did not find any centenarians in my direct line. When I investigated a few that were related by marriage, I was unsure whether the dates of death were accurate. One fellow supposedly lived to be 118. I am inclined to believe that this was an offspring with the same name. At any rate, I don’t want to perpetuate a tale that may not be true.

I decided that I should, therefore, turn the theme sideways. Live long – live long enough and you may learn your family’s deepest secrets. I am afraid that I shocked my aunt (now in her 90’s) this week by revealing to her a secret about her grandmother. Let me explain how this story unfolded. Most family historians who blog will understand when I say say, this is why I blog.

On April 13, I was very surprised to receive a comment on my blog about Anna Marie Kessler Lindner. She died during the Allied fire-bombing of Dresden. It must have been a horrific death and I think about her often. I have a photo of Marie and my great-grandfather, Max Lindner, hanging on the wall next to my desk. The comment came from a man who introduced himself as Ingemar Nåsell. He is a Swede and, as I learned later, a somewhat renowned mathematician. He told me that he is married to Anne-Marie Kessler. He informed me that his wife is a granddaughter of Oswald Kessler, who was born in Freiberg on April 22, 1863. Oswald Kessler made his home in Sweden in 1889. This all immediately connected for me. Besides having written about my great-grandmother Anna Marie Kessler, I have also blogged about her brother Oswald and about their parents. Oswald Kessler married Marie Sörensen in 1890, who was born in Flensburg in 1860. Together they had eight children, born from 1891 to 1903. I further learned that Marie and Oswald had had an older brother, Hermann Paul Kessler. He also settle in Sweden and had four children there. The idea that I had so many potential cousins is Sweden was new to me and a very pleasant surprise.

Ingemar Nåsell and I began a dialog. In his second comment, he had this to tell me:

I got some interesting information about the Kessler family from the Stadtverwaltung in Freiberg. According to this, Anna Maria Kessler had a son, Oskar Paul Kessler, who was born on 1884-05-15 in Freiberg. Oskar Paul first lived with his grand-parents. In June 1896 he went to Sweden. Later, in 1899, he attended a music school in Dippoldiswalde. He moved from Freiberg to Wildsdruff on 1904-03-31. I have no further information about him.

Of course, I decided to look for some independent confirmation for Oskar Paul Kessler. I searched on Ancestry.com and quickly found a military record indexed as Paul Oskar Kessler. There was no doubt that this was the same person. The birth date and place of birth were a match; furthermore, his mother was Maria Lindner, born Kessler and shown as living in Dresden. The forename, Paul, was underlined which I believe indicates that Paul was how he was called. This is in keeping of the German custom to be commonly known by one’s middle name. Paul was a musician in the military and this matches his education in Dippoldiswalde. He was also single.

Paul Oskar Kessler Bavarian Military condensed

Oskar Paul Kessler Military Record – Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Mnchen; Abteilung IV Kriegsarchiv. Kriegstammrollen, 1914-1918; Volume: 10728. Kriegsstammrolle (image edited to include column headers)

While I could read some of the record, I received translation help from Matthias Steinke of the German Genealogy Transcription group on Facebook. Here is the additional information:

Rank: private – Kessler Paul Oskar – Lutheran – place, district and date of birth: Freiberg in Saxony, district Dresden, 15th May 1884 – profession and residence: musician, Dresden-Striesen, Zinnwaldstr. 12 – unmarried – name, profession and address of the parents: father: deceased, mother Marie Lindner nee Kessler, Dresden-Striesen, Zinnwaldstr. 12 – notes: 13 March to 13th may 1916 reserve military hospital, 13th may to 29th June 1916 military hospital Bad Wildungen sanitarium – 18. June to 26 June 1917 – reserve Leipzig I Leipzig

What made this bit of family history so surprising is that in 1884 Anna Maria Kessler was not yet married to Max Lindner; and it appears that she was unwed. Gradually, the news began to sink in. My grandfather had a half-brother that he probably never knew. Certainly, Paul was never mentioned in the conversations that I had with Grandpa Lindner. I needed to phone my Aunt Marian to find out if she had ever heard a whisper of this while growing up.

Anna Marie Kessler Lindner - Dredsen, year unknown

Anna Marie Kessler Lindner – Dresden – year unknown

I think Aunt Marian was pretty shocked and it was very clear that she had never heard that Marie Lindner had a child before she was married. Suddenly, it occurred to me that the reason that Grandpa may not have spoken much about his Kessler grandparents was that he may not have known them very well. Since Paul was living with them, at least in his early years, it certainly would have created some awkward family gatherings.

Now, if you examine the military record for Oskar Paul Lindner, you will see that he gives his address and his mother’s as the same: Dresden-Striesen, Zinnwaldstr. 12. He also reported that his father was dead. That could have been true, but also may have been a fabrication. I spent some time browsing through the address books that have been digitized in a joint project of the Municipal Libraries Dresden and the Dresden City Archives trying to determine if Marie Lindner ever lived on Zinnwaldstrasse. I found no indication that she did; nor did I find Paul Kessler or any other Kesslers living there either. I did locate a listing for Emil Heinrich Max Lindner, my great-grandfather, residing first on Altenbergerstrasse (1904-1907) and, then, on Glasshütterstrasse (1908-1945) as I expected.

When Aunt Marian and I discussed learning of Oskar Paul Kessler, she said she felt certain her father didn’t know he had a half-brother. Otto Lindner frequently spoke of his older brother Max who was killed fighting for Germany in WWI. We think he would have cherished another brother, regardless of the circumstances of his birth. Aunt Marian said, “I am picturing your grandfather’s face when we tell him this news.” Since Otto passed away over 25 years ago, I think he already knows.

Next, I want to know, what became of Oskar Paul Kessler? Was he killed in WWI? I have looked through casualty records and not found one for him. If not, did he ever marry? There always seems to be a new mystery to research. I am extremely grateful to Ingemar Nåsell for sharing the family secret.

Tags: Anna Maria Kessler, Dresden, Kessler, Oswald Kessler Permalink

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Friedricke Dorothea Schwenn – How DO You Spell That? – 52 Ancestors 2015 #15

Posted by Cheryl Biermann Hartley on April 15, 2015 in 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, Biermann

Schwarz, Schwerin, Schwern, Schwem, Schwimmer and Wendt were among the various ways I found the surname reported for my 2x great-grandmother. Those variations mostly came from poor transcriptions for a handful of documents. Frederica Wendt was given as the mother’s name on the death record of Mary Schatz Kruse, one of Friedricke’s daughters.

Death Record for Mary Schatz Kruse with Mother’s Surname as Wendt

Last year, I finally confirmed that her real name was Friedricke Dorothea Schwenn. She came to the United States from Bützow in Mecklenburg-Schwerin with her husband-to-be, Johann Friedrich Schatz, and their infant son, Carl Heinrich Wilhelm Schatz. They married a few weeks after arriving in Cincinnati, Ohio. Like so many other Mecklenburgers of their time, it appears that they had been unable to receive permission to marry in their native land. I located John and Friedricke’s original marriage license from FamilySearch.org and you can see how the problem was confounded. Friedricke’s surname is spelled two different ways in the same document!

Marriage Record for John Schatz and Friedricke

It is really difficult to find someone when you don’t know their correct name. Of course, most genealogists have the frustration of elusive maiden names for several of their female ancestors; and, in the case of Friedricke, her given name is subject to mangled spelling, too. At least I was lucky to have something to approximate. I decided that I would need to go to the church records in Mecklenburg to sort out my dilemma. I knew that the last place of residence for John and Friedricke was Bützow. Because I knew that there would be no marriage record for Friedricke and John, I decided to search for the christening record for Carl, who later Americanized his name to Charles.

Since I had a specific date of birth of 5 September 1853 for Carl, it wasn’t too difficult to zero in on the record that I needed. I located it on film 69035 for the Evangelische Kirche – Stiftskirche Bützow. Not only was it plain that Friedricke’s surname was Schwenn, but one of the godparents for baby Carl was Wilhelmina Schwenn who may have traveled with the family to Cincinnati. Both Schwenn females are described as “mädchens” or maidens.

Schatz - Carl Heinrich Christening Bützow

Christening Record for Carl Schatz with Mother’s Name as Schwenn

While this isn’t the worst case of misspelling that I have seen, the variation in surnames certainly kept me guessing for years. My next problem for the time being is locating a christening record for Friedricke. The church record for Carl says that his mother was from Baumgarten, but that she served (presumably worked) in Wolken; but I want to know, where was she born and who were her parents?

Tags: Baumgarten, Bützow, Cincinnati, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Schatz, Schwenn, Wolken Permalink

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Jacob Bastel and Bryant Barlow – A House Divided – 52 Ancestors 2015 Bonus Blog

Posted by Cheryl Biermann Hartley on April 8, 2015 in 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

The 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War has arrived and my cousin, Gary Barlow, returns in a guest blogging appearance for the occasion. Since the topic didn’t fit the theme this week, pleas consider this a “bonus blog.”

“Jacob Bastel and Bryant Barlow – A House Divided”

By Gary Barlow

With the Confederate Army’s surrender 150 years ago, the American Civil War came to an end, closing the bloodiest war in our country’s history. An estimated 750,000 soldiers died as the nation fought to determine if the people who had formed the world’s first democracy would stay united or split into one country where the equality of all would be the ideal and another where many would remain in the bondage of slavery.

The war famously divided many families, especially in the border states. Those conflicts were even manifest in the family of the man who led the fight to keep the Union together, as Abraham Lincoln’s wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, had several half-brothers who fought for the Confederacy.

One of the most important battles of the war took place in the spring and early summer of 1863 at Vicksburg, Mississippi. Losing Vicksburg was a critical blow to the Confederacy as it enabled the Union to control traffic on the Mississippi River and split the Confederacy in half. And while many Americans today likely have ancestors who fought on both sides of the war, I recently discovered that two of my ancestors ended up on opposite sides of each other at Vicksburg. Sadly, the results of that battle were different for those two ancestors.

Jacob Bastel was born in Hockenheim in the Palatinate region of Germany in 1836 and emigrated to the U.S. at age 18. He settled in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, joining many others from his hometown who were already there. The Palatines, as they were called, were staunchly anti-slavery and when the southern states seceded and the Civil War broke out, many of them quickly enlisted in the Union cause. On Aug. 31, 1861, Jacob enlisted in Company F, 37th Infantry Regiment, Ohio, a unit that would become known as the German Regiment. They would fight across the Confederacy, from Virginia to Mississippi to Georgia and the Carolinas, before the war ended.

Jacob Bastel

About 1861, Jacob’s older brother Joseph Bastel also emigrated from Hockenheim to Upper Sandusky, bringing his wife, Eva Kretz Bastel, and three children with him, including their daughter Anna Bastel, born in 1855. Anna grew up to marry John Gaa and the couple moved to Columbus, where they raised 12 children, including my great-grandfather, Vincent Gaa, whose son, Victor Gaa, was my mother’s father.

Joseph Bastel didn’t live to see his daughter Anna marry, though, dying of unknown causes in 1864. When the Civil War ended, Jacob Bastel returned to Upper Sandusky and married his brother’s widow in October 1865. They had a child of their own and Jacob lived until 1898, becoming one of Upper Sandusky’s leading citizens. So he was both my great-great-grandmother’s uncle and stepfather.
Like Jacob Bastel, Bryant Barlow was also born in 1836, though a world apart in Perry County, Mississippi. That part of the state was not big cotton plantation country. Instead, it was populated by sturdy farmers and ranchers who raised a variety of livestock and crops. Few owned slaves. Bryant would marry Sarah Ellen Rush in 1858 and the couple had two sons, Wyatt Columbus Barlow and William Green Barlow, who was my great-grandfather. His son, Oliver U. Barlow, was my dad’s father.

The farmers of southern Mississippi waited some time after the war began before enlisting in the Confederate cause, but in May 1862 Bryant joined with others to form Company B of the 7th Battalion, Mississippi Infantry. They would become known as the Beauregard Defenders. Bryant’s company was ordered to north Mississippi and by October 1862 had fought bloody battles at Iuka and Corinth. There, Bryant was badly wounded, and he would spend the next five months in a Confederate hospital in Enterprise, Miss. On March 9, 1863, Bryant wrote his wife, telling her he expected to be sent back to his unit in a few days.

“I have been thinking that I would get to come home to see you before I went to my command but it is out of my power to get a furlough for they have orders to furlough no man,” Bryant wrote. “I have no such calculation of ever returning until the treaty of peace is made, and they are no telling when that will be done. They are but one thing that cheers me up and that is I have a helping God to put my trust in that I may go through the troubles and trials of this war. And if it falls to my lot to fall by the ball of the invader and depart from this unfriendly world I hope to be ready to meet my God in paradise. And I hope if we never on earth are permitted to meet again we will be able to meet in paradise where they are no troubles to be seen; where they are nothing but peace, joy, and good tidings for ever and ever.”

Bryant was right – the Confederate cause in Mississippi was falling apart and within days every available soldier was sent toward Vicksburg as the Union armies of Grant and Sherman slowly advanced on the invaluable port city. By mid-May the struggle for Vicksburg, which would last a month and a half, was underway.
On the Union side, Jacob Bastel’s 37th Regiment took part in the furious Union assaults of May 19 and May 22. They fought on the northwest side of the city, just south of Graveyard Road. About a half mile south of them, on the opposite side of the lines, Bryant Barlow’s 7th Battalion helped the Confederates hold the line at the Jackson Road. Then began Grant’s siege, a brutal war of attrition and starvation that saw the Union cannons pound the Confederate trenches day and night. The Union Army’s grip steadily tightened as Confederate trenches were blown apart by the steady cannon fire. On July 4 Vicksburg surrendered to Grant.

Sadly, Bryant Barlow hadn’t survived. He was killed on June 24, one of almost 20,000 men on both sides who died in the campaign that ended in Vicksburg’s surrender. Like most Confederate soldiers there, he was buried in an unmarked grave in the old city cemetery.
Ironically, it was another war that brought Jacob’s and Bryant’s families together again; my mom was working as a clerk in Denver in 1942 when my dad was sent there to train for the Army Air Corps in World War II. They met there and married just before he was sent off to England to prepare to take part in the D-Day invasion of France. They remained happily married for 66 years.

As they fought on opposite sides within shouting distance of each other at Vicksburg, neither Bryant Barlow or Jacob Bastel could have conceived of the possibility that one day, less than 80 years later, the daughter of one of their families would meet the son of the other’s family, and that the two would marry and raise a family of their own. Such is the story of America.

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