I don’t really know how the postage stamps of my 2 times great-grandfather, Emil Heinrich Max Lindner, came into my possession as a child. I think they were just around, and I swept them into my stamp collection, because, after all, they were stamps and I was a stamp collector. I don’t remember anyone ever…
Anna of Kiev – A Notable Royal Wedding for France and My Family Tree – 52 Ancestors 2015 # 23
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…
The Vonder Halbens – Education Was the Family Business – 52 Ancestors 2015 #22
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…
Louise Miller Wessa Bell – She Married Two Military Men – 52 Ancestors 2015 #21
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…
John L. Sigmund – A Black Sheep in My Mind – 52 Ancestors 2015 #20
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…
Augusta Gustave Catharina de la Marche – Locating My Ancestor the Hard Way – 52 Ancestors 2015 #19
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…
Hannah Hartley Ingham – Where There’s a Will, There Might Be a Clue – 52 Ancestors 2015 #18
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…
The Kessler Brothers in Stockholm – How They Prospered after Leaving Germany – 52 Ancestors 2015 #17
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…
Oskar Paul Kessler – This Is Why I Blog – 52 Ancestors 2015 #16
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…
Friedricke Dorothea Schwenn – How DO You Spell That? – 52 Ancestors 2015 #15
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. Last year,…