Good Deeds (52 Ancestors #8)

For this week’s challenge, I chose to focus on the incredible generousness of genealogy researchers. I was blessed early on with lots of help from others when I first started my genealogical searching in 1994. I joined many different mailing lists and genealogy homepages for the various counties where I was searching for ancestors. As I got familiar with using the different lists and pages, I began to request look-ups for various records. I was so impressed with the graciousness of the other researchers. 

As I slowly gathered my own copies of publications (i.e. Censuses, cemetery records, etc.), I joined the lists as a look-up volunteer in different counties for those who might benefit from the publications that I had. I have found that with the growing use of the Internet, most records are fairly easy to find now, and requests for look-ups are pretty much non-existent. I have my family tree on Ancestry.com and over the years I have heard from many other researchers, as well as myself contacting many researchers, to share and compare information. The help that I have gotten from others has been invaluable. 

I try to keep paying that forward by helping others as I can. One of the best examples of “good deeds” that I have experienced occurred about a year ago when a Murphy researcher from Ireland contacted me to see if there was a connection between his Murphy family and mine. We have not found a connection, but he did some searching for records of my Murphy family in Ireland and located the marriage record of my ggg-grandparents, James H. and Alice Reid Murphy, who are as far back as I go in my search. I had only an educated guess as to when they married based on the birth date of their oldest child. It was such a thrill to learn of the exact date and place of their marriage!! I had never been able to find that record and probably never would have. Then my new friend went on and did some research on Alice Reid just out of the kindness of his heart! Priceless.

 Family members have also been very giving and open to helping me over the years with my search. Even those family members who had not been known to me (or me to them) have shared information and photos with me. I will forever regret not asking many questions about family when I was younger, as most of my older relatives were gone when I began my genealogy journey. Thankfully, some tidbits have remained and have led to some wild chases! When I was young, probably around ten or eleven, I remember asking my grandmother who the O’Meara’s were…Mrs. O’Meara had been my great-grandmother’s best friend, and her daughter and my aunt had also been best friends. My grandmother answered the question by saying that the O’Mearas were “shirt-tale relatives” of my grandfather and the connection went way back to Ireland (which at that time meant about 130 years before). I have a cousin who is the same age as my father and lives in Indiana where some of my father’s family was from. Over the past twenty-some years, she has been invaluable, both in sharing her memories and going as far as doing research at the local library for me! All of this has been so inspirational to me. I try to always “pass it on” to other researchers, even if it does not include my own family. Being the recipient of such kindness must be paid back to others! Good deeds indeed!

Mary Love, born 1768 (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks #7)

This week’s challenge is “LOVE”. I chose to write about Mary Love, my fourth great-grandmother. Her son, William Adamson, is the ancestor that started my whole genealogical journey twenty-some years ago into the Adamson family. 

 Very little is known about Mary, so there is much work to do to learn about her. This is what I do know (with some noted speculation): Mary Love was born on the 30th of July in 1768 in North Carolina. She was the daughter of John and Sarah Sharp Love. Mary was the seventh of eleven known children. Her parents were reported to be Quakers. Her father, John Love, was listed in the 1768 Rowan County, North Carolina Tax List, so it is a good guess that his daughter Mary was born in Rowan County. 

 Mary Love married Enos Adamson around 1781. Mary’s father was listed in the Surry County North Carolina Tax List for 1780, so it may be that Mary married in Surry County. Marriage records have not been located to prove this. The marriage date for Mary Love and Enos Adamson is based on the fact that their first known child, John, was born about 1782 in Orange County, North Carolina. Enos Adamson was listed as living in Surry County, North Carolina in 1785. He and Mary had either four or five children by then. The family was listed in both the 1790 and 1800 Stokes County North Carolina Censuses. 

 As best as can be determined, Mary Love had eight children. It is unknown where and when Mary Love Adamson died. Her father died around 1791 in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, and Mary was listed in her father’s will. She had children born between 1790 and 1800. Her husband Enos was found in Jefferson County, Tennessee in 1812 as a witness to his brother Thomas’ will. Was Mary there also? Unfortunately, no further history of Enos Adamson is known either. Enos and Mary Love Adamson’s children settled in Tennessee, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois. What happened to Enos and Mary? This is one of those mysteries that I feel the answers are out there somewhere, but I don’t know where to look!

So Far Away: Elisabetha Korndorfer 1858-1928 (52 Ancestors # 6)

The theme for this week’s challenge is “So Far Away”. I tried to figure out which ancestor was born the furthest away from me (in terms of distance) and decided to write about my great-great grandmother, Elisabetha E. Korndorfer, who was born in Bavaria, Germany. 

Elisabetha appears to be another instance of a woman living a quiet ordinary life. However, after reviewing the facts of her life, she seems to have been a very strong woman, making the best of what she was dealt in life. She suffered losses that would be difficult for one in her circumstances. And she was a nurse, who attended the births of her grandchildren and worked in private homes. Her husband moved the family from Indiana during the late 1800s to Kansas for just a few years, then they moved again to Illinois. She was widowed early with three teenagers and a nine-year-old. 

 Elisabetha was the daughter of Johannes Korndorfer and Katherina Kleindinst. She was born on the 27 of March in 1858 in Bavaria and was the seventh of ten children. She was called “Lizzie”. Elisabetha and her family arrived in the United States in 1860 when she was two years old. The family settled in Marshall County, Indiana, where her father owned 80 acres. Elisabetha’s father, Johannes (John) Korndorfer died six years later, leaving Elisabetha’s mother, Katherina, with six children to raise. Katherina remarried a year later to Philip Dielman, a widower with five older children. Elisabetha was only eight years old when her father died and nine years old when Philip became her stepfather. Elisabetha Korndorfer was listed in the 1870 St. Joseph County, Indiana Census with her step-father, mother, sister Ella, and brother John. She was twelve years old. Her step-father was a farmer and had been since at least 1850, so it is safe to assume that Elisabetha lived on a farm all of her life. When Elizabetha was twenty-one years old, she married twenty-year-old Edward Hanauer on the 30 of December in 1879 in St. Joseph County, Indiana. Edward had also been raised on a farm in Indiana. 

By the following summer, Elisabetha and Edward were listed in the Ft. Wayne, Allen County, Indiana Census. Edward was listed as a laborer. And so, Elisabetha began her new life living about eighty-five miles away from her family, and for the first time, was not living on a farm... The following year, in 1881, Elisabetha and Edward Hanauer’s first child, Ella Hanauer, was born in Ft. Wayne. By 1883, the Hanauer family had moved back to Mishawaka, Indiana where their second child, Kathryn, (This was my great-grandmother) was born. The family moved to Kansas sometime after Kathryn’s birth, and two children were born there: William was born in 1886 in Abilene, Kansas, and son Charles was born in 1891 in Niles, Kansas. Elisabetha had two step-brothers living in Kansas, so that may be what drew the family to Kansas. 

However, they didn’t stay in Kansas for long. By 1893, the family moved to Peoria, Illinois. Elisabetha’s sister, Kate, had married George Proehmer and they had been in Peoria for about twenty years. The Proehmer family owned and operated a bakery. 

 Sadly, Edward Hanauer died six years later in 1899, leaving Elisabetha with four children to raise. The Census for 1900 for Peoria, Illinois shows Elizabeth Hanauer as 42, widowed, with four children. No occupation was listed for her. It also shows her four children, Ella, Katie, William and Charles. Katie, age 16, is listed as a saleslady for a bakery. She is the only member of the household that shows to be employed. Elisabetha’s daughter, Kathryn, married in 1902. Elisabetha was a nurse by this time and attended to the birth of Kathryn’s first two children, who were born in 1903 and 1906. Elisabetha’s sister Kate, who lived in Peoria, died in 1906. Other than her children, Kate was the only family that Elisabetha had who lived in Peoria. That must have seemed like a huge loss to her, especially coming only seven years after losing her husband Edward. 

 The 1910 Peoria Census lists Elizabeth Hanauer, age 52, widowed, living with daughter Ella and son Charles. They were living a few houses away from daughter Kathryn and her family. In 1911, Elizabeth was listed as living with her son William in Peoria. Sometime between 1910 and 1920, her daughter Ella married. And in 1912, Elisabetha’s son Charles married. It appears that after 1910, Elisabetha always lived with one of her children and their family. By 1920, Elisabetha was living with her daughter Kathryn and family in Peoria. In that census she is listed as age 61, widowed and her occupation is nurse. Her son William was living in California with his family, and her daughter Ella was living in Oklahoma. Ella died in Oklahoma in 1925. She had no children and was only forty-four years old. 

The 1926 Peoria City Directory shows that Elizabeth Hanauer still lived in her daughter Kathryn’s home. Elisabetha Korndorfer Hanauer died on the 23rd of April in 1928 at her daughter Kathryn’s home. The obituary from the Peoria Journal Tues. April 24, 1928 states:

 

"Mrs. Hanauer Rites Will Be Wednesday. Announcement is made of funeral services for Mrs. Elizabeth Hanauer, to be held in the residence of her daughter Mrs. ER Murphy, 121 Clarke ave, Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock. Rev. Nelson Dahlenberg will officiate at this service and also at the grave in Springdale cemetery. Mrs. Hanauer, who died at St. Francis hospital on Monday, was born in Bavaria March 27, 1858 and had been a resident of Peoria since 1893. Her husband Edward H. died many years ago and the survivors are 2 sons, William and Charles Hanauer and the daughter at whose home she died. Others surviving her are a brother J.H.Korndorfer of Long Beach, CA and 2 sisters Mrs. W.H. Wiegner of Elkhart, IN and Mrs. Benjamin Neu of White Pigeon, Minn." Elisabetha’s death certificate states that she had been in the US for 68 years, and a resident of Illinois for 35 years; Medical: Contributory factor: Fracture of right femur (from accidental fall)

 Elisabetha had ten grandchildren. I don’t remember ever hearing anything about this great-grandmother other than she had delivered my grandfather. This is one of those cases where I wish that I had asked questions long ago before my

family had died. Unfortunately, I have many of those cases!

Plowing Through-Olaus Hansson (52 Ancestors #5)

This week’s challenge is “Plowing Through”. I considered what ancestor lived the furthest north and decided that I would write about Olaus Hansson who lived in Pembina County, North Dakota for about thirty-five years. Pembina County is at the northeast corner of North Dakota, bordering on Canada. Weather history from the month of January from 1900 to 1925 shows that temperatures there would go as low as -44 degrees, with up to 30” of snow. I would guess that Olaus did his share of plowing through snow, one way or another! 

 My great-great-grandfather Olaus Hansson was born on 27 December 1849 in Slimminge, Malmöhus, Sweden to Hans Larsson and Ingar Andersson. He was the oldest of nine known children. He married Bengte Nilsdotter around 1870 in Sweden and they had 6 children. In Sweden, Olaus worked in railroad construction and lived in a town far from his family. His daughter Ingrid reported that he only came home about 6 times a year. Ingrid described her father as having black curly hair and being good-looking.

 In 1888, when he was thirty-nine years old, Olaus came to the United States, leaving his family in Sweden. It is believed that he went to live with his cousins in North Dakota. Information from a Sweden Emigration CD look-up indicated that Olaus Hansson, age thirty-nine, from Sjorup, county of Malmöhus, emigrated in 1888 and his destination was St. Paul, Minnesota. No records have been located to show where Olaus was or what he was doing from 1888 to 1900. No evidence has been found that indicates that Olaus ever returned to visit his wife in Sweden. She died in 1902. 

 Olaus is listed in the 1900 Cavalier, Pembina County North Dakota Census as living with Rifus Paddock and his family. “Olaf Hansen” was listed as being born in December 1849 in Sweden. His age was listed as 50 years old and he was a farm laborer. The census showed that he could read, write, and speak English. Olaus’ daughter Ingrid stated that the only time after 1888 that she saw Olaus was in 1911 when he visited Peoria, Illinois, and that it had been 24 years since she had seen him. She reported that he "had another woman" in North Dakota. She also questioned where his money went. No records have been found for Olaus from 1900 to 1920. 

 In the 1920 Crystal City, Crystal Township, Pembina County, North Dakota Census Olaus was listed as “Hanson Olaf”.He was age 60, born in Sweden, was a widower, and a laborer. He could read, write, and speak English. 

Olaus Hansson died on 9 February 1925 in Crystal City, North Dakota. The obituary found in the CRYSTAL CALL newspaper for Crystal City, North Dakota is the following:

 

"OLAF HANSON DIED EARLY MONDAY MORNING After an illness of about two weeks, Mr. Olaf Hanson passed away at his home at the Crystal Hotel here.Heart trouble was the cause of death, altho Mr. Hanson had been suffering from very poor respiration for some time. Mr. Hanson came here from Peora (sp), Ill. some few years ago and has worked on a number of farms near town but of late he has made his home at the Crystal Hotel where he has made many friends who will miss him very much. About two weeks ago he packed his trunk and shipped it back to the old home at Peora (sp), and had intended to go back there for the remaining months of the winter but sickness overtook him before he could get away. The body was shipped to Peora (sp) for burial on Tuesday."

 The obituary from the PEORIA JOURNAL was as follows:

 

"OLAF HANSON Funeral services will be held in the Wilton mortuary chapel on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 o'clock for Olaf Hanson, former Peorian, who died at his residence in Crystal, SD Tuesday.Mr. Hanson was 79 years of age and lived in this city most of his life. He leaves one son, Herman of Chicago, and 4 daughters-Mrs. C.O. Seeber, Mrs. J.W. Stanley, Mrs. J.H. Kronblad and Mrs. C.E. Peterson, all of Peoria."

 Olaus’ daughter Ingrid said that when Olaus died he was shipped down to Peoria and she refused to pay for his funeral, commenting that they "were on the outs for a long time." Olaus’ death certificate showed the following information:

 

Place of death: Pembina County, ND City:Crystal Full Name: Oluf Hanson Length of residence in city or town where death occurred: nine years Sex: Male Color or Race: White Marital Status: Widower DOB: 1859 Age: 66 Years Occupation: Common Laborer Birthplace: Sweden Name of father: Unknown Birthplace of father: Sweden Maiden Name of Mother: Unknown Birthplace of Mother: Sweden Informant: Mrs. A. C. Anderson Cause of Death: Arterioscleronis resulting in Cardiac failure Place of Burial, Cremation or Removal: Peoria Illinois Date of Burial: Didn't know

Olaus Hansson is buried at Parkview Cemetery in Peoria, Illinois. The record from the mortuary states that Olaus lived in Crystal, North Dakota for 35 years, and had been in the United States for 36 years. It stated his age as 75.