It begins with the following email from my Great Aunt Betty who has been searching for our ancestors for 20+ years.
according to Aunt Sissy: the one that was killed in a mine explosion was:
John W. Schweinsberg aug. 1839 or 1840 Germany died,24 apr. 1867 (his wife was)
Catherine Elizabeth Lindeman,,,24 oct. 1843 /14 oct. 1912 Hesse Cassel Germany
her father::: Conrad Lindeman
her Mother:::Dorothea Coleman
after John was killed she married a Manus Boyle,, he already had several children and his wife died, then togeather they had children... he was quite a bit older than she was, maybe it was a convienince marriage???
children:::
1, Ludwig Schweinsburg:::::4 aug.1861 Hazleton
2.Henry Philip Schweinsberg:::13 Jul. 1863 HZL.
3. Lewis Schweinsberg:::-------Humbolt
4.Maria (Mary) Schweinberg::: Nov. 1865 HZL.
5* William Schweinsberg::::28 Dec. 1870 Harwood, Luzerne, Pa.
some where in there the name was shortened to Swinesburg, also Swinsburg
do you have these people already? aunt betty
Unfortunately, my aunts are not big on saving "documentation" to back up the family connections. A lot is by stories that have been passed down. At their ages 70+ 80+ they have a lot of "old" memories that I will never have and that is a wonderful thing.
I guess this is where I need to come in and find the "proof" needed for our family line. I hope to find something to connect and fill in all the holes that we keep tripping in. I feel my dog Maxwell has hit our family line like my backyard and keeps digging up holes as I am filling them in. Bad dog and Bad lack of records.
I will be searching Pennsylvania newspapers, cemetery, mine company and court records trying to hunt down any clue to John William's parent's and so on maybe find more on the family in Germany even. I will also search message boards hoping for a connection that is also on the search for facts and truth in the family stories.
Happy hunting for all of you who are lost in family stories and mysteries.
Showing posts with label Family History. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family History. Show all posts
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Lets go back in time -- Michael McKenna and family back in Ireland
This posting I hope to uncover a little more about Mike Mckenna and his 2 sisters. Since Mike and Maggie didn't immigrate to the US until 1906 they should be in the 1901. I am not sure of the arrival of Sarah, I guess we will see if she is in Ireland as well in the census.
Check out the http://www.nationalarchives.ie/ which is the Archives for Ireland site. I am able to see the images of the 1901 census. It is quite easy to do a search on this site. The following fields help narrow down the search a great deal; name, age at census, religion, county and parish.
I found the family with only a bit of effort. The family is living in the townland of Tullylone in the County Monaghan. Interesting thing is no parents are listed in the family.
• Parents not with children, probably passed away.
• Head of house was a single brother named - Peter McKenna. Peter was listed as a Cattle Dealer.
• Two sisters listed – Margaret and Sarah both seamstresses.
• Two brothers listed – Michael and John. both scholars
• Everyone was born in County, Monaghan, were Roman Catholics and could read and write.
• They lived in a small 3 room house. They had a Cow house, Calf house, Piggery, and Barn on their property.
Looking at the census records just a few doors down is a sixty-one year old Patrick McKenna and his wife Mary who is fifty-five years of age. Patrick is listed as a farmer. I wonder what relation they are if any relation at all. I will look into that couple at a later time.
We at least can narrow down the years Sarah immigrated since she was in the 1901 census. We still have no idea who the parents were. Perhaps while looking at more US records we can hunt down and discover their names and where they were from.
Where do we look now and for what?
1. Parents names
2. Sarah McKenna passenger records
3. Michael, Sarah and Maggie in US Census records
4. Did the other brothers immigrate as well and if so when?
Check out the http://www.nationalarchives.ie/ which is the Archives for Ireland site. I am able to see the images of the 1901 census. It is quite easy to do a search on this site. The following fields help narrow down the search a great deal; name, age at census, religion, county and parish.
I found the family with only a bit of effort. The family is living in the townland of Tullylone in the County Monaghan. Interesting thing is no parents are listed in the family.
• Parents not with children, probably passed away.
• Head of house was a single brother named - Peter McKenna. Peter was listed as a Cattle Dealer.
• Two sisters listed – Margaret and Sarah both seamstresses.
• Two brothers listed – Michael and John. both scholars
• Everyone was born in County, Monaghan, were Roman Catholics and could read and write.
• They lived in a small 3 room house. They had a Cow house, Calf house, Piggery, and Barn on their property.
Looking at the census records just a few doors down is a sixty-one year old Patrick McKenna and his wife Mary who is fifty-five years of age. Patrick is listed as a farmer. I wonder what relation they are if any relation at all. I will look into that couple at a later time.
We at least can narrow down the years Sarah immigrated since she was in the 1901 census. We still have no idea who the parents were. Perhaps while looking at more US records we can hunt down and discover their names and where they were from.
Where do we look now and for what?
1. Parents names
2. Sarah McKenna passenger records
3. Michael, Sarah and Maggie in US Census records
4. Did the other brothers immigrate as well and if so when?
Friday, April 16, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
New family genealogy troubles.
Well, as you know from a few posts back my hubby's cousin is getting into the "genealogy thing."
She emailed me last night saying, "I think you have the wrong Henrietta for my Pop, Joe's mom. She died in 1985 and her last name was Coffee at the time." (She had remarried and her new husband was Joseph Coffee.) She goes on to say that she attended the funeral in 1985 and the last name "Zeigler" was never mentioned. I thought to myself, She was being buried as a Coffee not as a Zeigler. Plus, cousin was just a child then, so how much did she remember. I know I don't remember much of my great-grandma's funeral.
So she was wondering how come I had Joseph Reilly's mom listed as Henrietta Zeigler? For she never heard that name so it can't be the right name.
She also saw in a 1920 Newark, NJ census a Joseph Reilly married to a Helen and they had one child Edward. She was sure that had to be the correct family since Pop had a brother Edward.
It took a lot of self control and calming down before I wrote her back. How dare she question my work? She is only a newbie. Ok, I know I have to get over that. I can really be a bratt at times.
I scanned and forwarded a copy of Pop's (Joseph Reilly) death certificate which had his parents names listed. His mother was Henrietta Zeigler. The informant was none other than........... dear cousins, MOM. I said, "Maybe you should ask your mom what she might know." I then sent her a copy of the 1920 Census page I had from Newark NJ. The family highlighted was Head: Joseph, Wife: Henrietta, Son: Joseph, Son: Edward.
What dear cousin forgot to remember is, we can't make the family history up from stories and our memories. How many times are our memories incorrect in some way. I then had to mention there are probably 50 different Joseph Reilly family's in Newark at that time. Most of them had at least one son with the same name. Also we need to keep in mind birth order, Joseph was older then Edward but still a small child and would be with the family. We need to be more selective at which family we claim as ours.
This morning I got a response email saying, "If the Death Cert. says that is her name it has to be true." You know me I wrote another long response letting her know Public Records are sometimes wrong. Records are only as good as the people that gave the information can remember or want you to know. That is why we should always check multiple records.
I had to admit I didn't look into this woman very much - I was to busy focusing on others, that happens. I filled out and mailed a request letter for Henrietta's SS-5 form first thing this morning. Hopefully, this will clear things up and also give us her parents names.
That is all I have to say for now. Helping a friend with a 20 year old Brick Wall. I remember before I even started researching and was just a kid she was trying to find these people. I used to tag along. Yeah, she is 25 years older than me. I have a thing with having older friends. I guess, I always related better with people my parents or grandparents ages. My husband tells me, I am an 84 year old woman in a 34 year old body. LOL.
She emailed me last night saying, "I think you have the wrong Henrietta for my Pop, Joe's mom. She died in 1985 and her last name was Coffee at the time." (She had remarried and her new husband was Joseph Coffee.) She goes on to say that she attended the funeral in 1985 and the last name "Zeigler" was never mentioned. I thought to myself, She was being buried as a Coffee not as a Zeigler. Plus, cousin was just a child then, so how much did she remember. I know I don't remember much of my great-grandma's funeral.
So she was wondering how come I had Joseph Reilly's mom listed as Henrietta Zeigler? For she never heard that name so it can't be the right name.
She also saw in a 1920 Newark, NJ census a Joseph Reilly married to a Helen and they had one child Edward. She was sure that had to be the correct family since Pop had a brother Edward.
It took a lot of self control and calming down before I wrote her back. How dare she question my work? She is only a newbie. Ok, I know I have to get over that. I can really be a bratt at times.
I scanned and forwarded a copy of Pop's (Joseph Reilly) death certificate which had his parents names listed. His mother was Henrietta Zeigler. The informant was none other than........... dear cousins, MOM. I said, "Maybe you should ask your mom what she might know." I then sent her a copy of the 1920 Census page I had from Newark NJ. The family highlighted was Head: Joseph, Wife: Henrietta, Son: Joseph, Son: Edward.
What dear cousin forgot to remember is, we can't make the family history up from stories and our memories. How many times are our memories incorrect in some way. I then had to mention there are probably 50 different Joseph Reilly family's in Newark at that time. Most of them had at least one son with the same name. Also we need to keep in mind birth order, Joseph was older then Edward but still a small child and would be with the family. We need to be more selective at which family we claim as ours.
This morning I got a response email saying, "If the Death Cert. says that is her name it has to be true." You know me I wrote another long response letting her know Public Records are sometimes wrong. Records are only as good as the people that gave the information can remember or want you to know. That is why we should always check multiple records.
I had to admit I didn't look into this woman very much - I was to busy focusing on others, that happens. I filled out and mailed a request letter for Henrietta's SS-5 form first thing this morning. Hopefully, this will clear things up and also give us her parents names.
That is all I have to say for now. Helping a friend with a 20 year old Brick Wall. I remember before I even started researching and was just a kid she was trying to find these people. I used to tag along. Yeah, she is 25 years older than me. I have a thing with having older friends. I guess, I always related better with people my parents or grandparents ages. My husband tells me, I am an 84 year old woman in a 34 year old body. LOL.
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