My great-grandfather, Louis Licciardi, passed away February 26, 1974. He was born January 30, 1891 in Palermo, Italy, and came to America in 1920. This obituary was published in The Cleveland Plain Dealer on February 27, 1974. A shorter obituary was published the same day in the 'Death Notices' section of the same newspaper on page 7-E. Here is a photo of Louis dancing with his wife, Adele, at my parents' wedding, which was about five months before he passed away. ©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder
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This is the obituary for Johann Michael (commonly known as "Mike") Drees from the 28 Mar 1941 edition of The Minster Post. Mike Drees was the maternal grandfather of my husband's paternal grandmother (got that?). In other words he is one of my husband's great-great-grandfathers. As you can tell by reading the obituary, Mike was an influential man in the area and was very social. He reported for the local newspaper, which, I have to say, is great for my research of the family, because there is often a heavy bias in the newspaper on what his children and extended family members were doing from week to week. He was also a farmer, and he was not shy about mentioning his own farming accomplishments and activities in the weekly newspaper round-up. Mike Drees was a son of German Catholic immigrants, Johann Michael (also called 'Mike') Drees and Maria Catherine Wellerding. (The obituary incorrectly says 'Caroline.') His father, a blacksmith, was one of the founders of the town of Minster, Ohio, and served as the town's first mayor.
The decedent had nine children; a daughter, Katharina Bernadine Drees, with his first wife, Maria Gertrude Berning (who is not mentioned here). She passed away less than two years after her daughter was born. Shortly after her death in 1880, Mike married Mary Catherine Wilkens, with whom he had eight children. His youngest child, Frances Marie Drees, was the mother of my husband's grandmother, Naomi Grilliot Schroeder. ©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder These are the tombstones of Johann Christopher Bernhold and his wife, Maria Angela Mehring, who are buried in St. Augustine Cemetery in Minster, Ohio. They are my husband's 4x great-grandparents through his paternal grandfather's (Schroeder) line. Johann Christopher (who usually went by just Christopher) and Maria Angela were from Hunteberg, Niedersachsen, Germany; according to immigration information found at AidaOnline, more specifically the district of Welplage. In 1846, they immigrated to the U.S. with their four children, Karl ("Charles"), Ernst Friederich Heinrich ('Fritz", "Frank", "Fred"), Anna Maria Sophia Engel, and Herman Heinrich. Two daughters, Anna Maria Elizabeth and Margaretha Engel, passed away in Hunteberg in the 1840s, prior to the family's emigration. (The location of Hunteburg is shown below:) The Bernhold family settled in the German immigrant community around Minster, Ohio, where they ran an average-sized family farm. By the 1870 Census, Christopher and Angela were living with their son, Herman, and his wife. Maria Angela passes away in 1874, but Christopher is listed in the 1880 Census, still living with Herman. That census form is difficult to read, but it states that Christopher, at about the age of 80, still "works some on farm."
Photo source: FindAGrave.com; photographed by Crashlan. ©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder In 1900, Joseph Brunswick, my husband's gg-grandfather, was living in German Twp, Auglaize County, Ohio with his wife, Bernadina (née Rolfes), stepson, Clemens Vehorn, and sons, Julius, Lawrence, Edwin, and Frank. He is listed as a farmer and land owner. (Click on image for larger view.) There are several mistakes in the names and birth dates on this family's census form. Several of the names are spelled incorrectly, and the enumerator failed to note that Clemens ('Clarence' on the form) was Joseph's stepson (who had a different surname). Also, I have located county probate birth records for every member of this family, and the only date of birth that is correct on the census is Frank's, who was born only a few months before the census was taken. The enumerator did correctly record the couple's number of years married at six years; according to Joseph's obituary, they were married 4 Apr 1894. The location of Joseph's land can be seen in this 1898 Land Ownership Map for Auglaize County, Ohio. The farm was on the western edge of German Twp, and shared a border with Mercer County. The area of gridded streets in German Twp is the town of New Bremen, and farther south in Jackson Twp is the town of Minster. This area of Auglaize County, along with neighboring Mercer County, was heavily settled by German Catholic immigrants during the 19th century. (Click on image for larger view.) In the modern-day map below, Joseph's land would be located in the rectangle between Amsterdam Rd, Wilker Rd, OH-274, and Mercer-Auglaize Co Line Rd. His land would have been about in the middle of that rectangle. Map below showing Auglaize County. The purple circle indicates the location of German and Jackson Townships. Census source: Year: 1900: Census Place: German, Auglaize, Ohio; Roll: T623_1240; Page 19A; Enumeration District: 33
Map source: U.S., Indexed County Land Ownership Maps, 1860-1918; Collection NumberL G&M_27; Roll Number: 27 ©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder This is the gravestone of Joseph Anton Brunswick, who was the grandfather of my husband's maternal grandmother, Rita Brunswick Tumbush. According to county probate birth records, he was born December 3, 1867 in St. John, Ohio (Mercer County), which is very close to Maria Stein. He was the fifth child of Andrew Brunswick, a German immigrant, and Philomena Oldendiek, the daughter of German immigrants. Joseph married twice. He married a young widow, Bernadina Rolfes Vehorn, on April 4, 1894 at Maria Stein. She passed away December 27, 1905, a couple of weeks after giving birth to their seventh child. He remained a widower until 1925, when he married the widow Elizabeth Boeckman Droesch. He died September 30, 1940, and is buried in St. Wendelin Cemetery in Mercer County, Ohio. His obituary from the October 4, 1940 edition of The Minster Post is below: Gravestone image source: FindAGrave.com; photographed by tut
Two weeks from today, my husband and I will be on our way to Salt Lake City. There is a short conference/class that my husband wanted to attend for work, and he suggested that I come along and we make a little non-kid vacation out of it. (And, yes, he knew when he mentioned it to me that I wouldn't be able to refuse! He knows the power of the Family History Library, lol!) This will be my first trip to the FHL. I will only have two days of research time. I am going into this experience with realistic expectations of how much (how little) research I will probably be able to accomplish in that short period of time. I will only be concentrating on a couple of family lines, and I will be primarily searching for microfilmed records that I have already found to be indexed on FamilySearch.org. All of the films are international. I know exactly which microfilms I will need, and I will be using this online form to request them ahead of time, so they are ready to go when I arrive. I have printed out copies of the indexed records and paper-clipped them together with a single-page print out of that portion of the family tree. I will have a stenographer's notebook where I have written down who and what I am looking for in each family, and I will also use it to take additional source notes, if necessary. I also plan on bringing my iPad so that I can access all of my family tree records that I have put online, if I need to look something up. If possible, I would like to avoid having to bring my laptop, mainly just for travel reasons. I plan on using a USB flash drive to collect records, and I will copy what I find onto my OneDrive 'cloud' or Google Drive just to be on the safe side. I actually want to invest in a new flash drive for the occasion - any recommendations or suggestions? So, for those of you who have done research at the FHL, what am I forgetting? Any advice or suggestions for a newbie? My husband and I will also be taking some time to tour Salt Lake City and the surrounding area, and I'd love to hear suggestions for what to see, where to eat, etc. ©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder Business cards aren't just for business people anymore. Yes, conventional working professionals still carry around business cards with their titles, companies, and contact information printed on them, but nowadays it has become common for other members of society to make and hand out 'business' cards. At the beginning of the school year my son's teacher handed out her 'card' in the form of a magnet - we keep it on our fridge and it has proved to be very handy. Teenagers looking for babysitting or lawn maintenance jobs have business cards just in case they happen to cross paths with a potential client/employer. Stay-at-home moms carry around 'mom cards' that they can hand to other moms who they meet at playgroups or at the park. And, if you are a genealogy blogger (or any type of blogger, for that matter), you should have some business cards, too. Last year, I had some of my own cards made. My brother was getting married, and I knew I would be seeing some of my Dad's cousins who I really never see at any other time. I wanted an easy way to give them my genealogy website URL and email address, without them having to fiddle with their phone or find a pencil and paper to write it on. Sure enough, I handed out a few at his wedding, so that mission was accomplished. Fast forward to just a couple of months ago. I was attending a seminar at the Indiana Historical Society. During one of our breaks, I introduced myself to one of the programming and education employees, gave her one of my cards, and simply let her know that if she or other members of the programming staff were interested in putting together a seminar on genealogy blogging, I could probably help out with that. She thanked me, the seminar started back up, and I went back home not really expecting much of it. A few days later, she emailed me and asked me to come in and speak with her about putting together some children's genealogy programs for them, based on my new blog, Growing Little Leaves.
Even if you only blog as a hobby (as I do), you never know when or where you may want to share your blog and/or contact information with someone. You could be doing research at a library and bump into someone researching the same areas and/or families as you, or you could be at a seminar or conference and meet someone who could even be a potential relative. Most bloggers focus on using digital social networks, such as Facebook, Google+, and Twitter to expand their readership, but it is important to keep utilizing this more traditional method of networking. I ordered my cards through Vistaprint, but there are a handful of other websites on which you can design your own cards, usually at very economical prices. Office supply stores, like Staples and Office Depot, can also help you design and print cards. You are completely in charge of what you want on your card - I put my name, email address, phone number, and home address, along with my website URLs and the major surnames I research. ©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder Today, the Catholic Church is canonizing Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II. In 1997, when I was 18 years old, I was fortunate enough to visit The Vatican City and attend the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, at which Pope John Paul II presided. Somehow, as our group was filing into the seating rows in St. Peter's Basilica, I managed to get an aisle seat. I was literally close enough to touch him and I was able to take some great photos. After the trip, I gave this particular photo to my Grandpa Kowalski. I think my mom gave him a little frame for it and it sat on one of his TV room side tables for the rest of his life. My grandfather was the son of Polish Catholic immigrants, so you can imagine the pride he felt in having a Polish man as the head of the Catholic Church. Here is the "ticket" we were given to be admitted to the Mass that morning. ©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder
I wrote this little editorial several weeks ago, but didn't know if or when I should publish it. So, I was feeling a bit cheeky today and decided that today was the day. I'm sure not all of you who read it will agree with my thoughts, but as long as it gets people thinking, I'm content with that.
1.) Tell them how ‘easy’ they have it compared with their ancestors. Ok sure, teens of the 21st century may not have all of the back-breaking physical tasks of older generations, and they may be better off financially, but in many ways, it is more difficult being a teenager now than at any other time in history. The amount of pressure put on teens today from parents, teachers, peers, coaches, and society as a whole with respect to academics, athletics, and appearance is staggering. Every older generation has thought that the younger generation has had it ‘easier’ than they did. And that is not necessarily true on all counts. Rather, we need to connect the generations through common human experiences and emotions. Grandparents, sit down with your grandchildren and tell them about a time when, as a teenager, you argued with your parents or felt like they just didn’t understand you. Talk about a time when you had a crush on a particular boy or girl who didn’t even know you existed, or when someone who you loved died. These types of experiences transcend time and can help to bridge the generation gap. 2.) Show them a pedigree chart as an introduction to family history. You may be saying, “What’s wrong with a pedigree chart?” Well, to a teenager who is more or less indifferent to family history, a pedigree chart is boring and looks like some sort of study guide a teacher might hand out at school. Instead, start with photos and heirlooms, and weave interesting family narratives around those pieces. Then, go a step further; use that old photo of great-grandma to help your teen design a vintage 1940s outfit for herself, or give an heirloom to your teenaged student for a mixed-media art project. If a teen you know is into music, share with them the music you enjoyed as a kid – some teens today are incredibly talented in mixing their own music digitally and may even be inspired to combine decades-old music with modern styles. 3.) Criticize the popular technology, music, clothing, and social norms of today. Imagine a grandparent saying to his or her grandchild, “This music is awful. Back when I was in high school, we listened to good music,” or “I can’t stand all of this new technology. Times were so much simpler and better when I was a kid.” Do you think statements like these are going to get kids wanting to learn about the past? Just like every generation before them, teens are fiercely protective and sentimental of the societal influences and trends that are popular during their comings-of-age. More sensitivity is required on the parts of parents and grandparents when it comes to accepting – not necessarily embracing, but at least accepting - these pieces of their lives that teens find so important. And more emphasis needs to be put on incorporating the stories of our younger family members into our family histories. Why should teens respect the stories of the past, if we don’t respect the stories of their present? ©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder |
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