The 1910 census has two wonderful columns labeled “mother of how many children” and “number of those children still living.” My 2nd great grandmother, Mary (Koerbach) Kaechle, was a 52-year-old widow in 1900. In the census, she’s listed as having 4 children with 3 still living in 1910. I only had names for 3 of her children: all sons. Yesterday, I came across the record that solved the identity of this missing child, another son. The record was a photo of Mary’s husband’s headstone, Reinhard Kaechle. There, on the bottom of the stone, it lists the name of another deceased....
As I worked on my Koechle/Kaechle chapter for the Holthoefer family book, I was shocked to come across a piece of conflicting evidence which threatened to chop off a branch of my tree. For years I’d worked with the thought that Reinhard Koechle’s father was Thaddeus Koechle. But, upon discovering Reinhard’s death certificate at Seeking Michigan, I saw his father’s name listed as Mathias. For about 24 hours, I was desperately trying to determine who really was the father of Reinhard Koechle. Detail of Reinhard Kaechle’s death certificate (from Seeking Michigan site) showing father’s name as Mathias Reinhard’s death certificate...
How do you share your genealogy work? For the past couple of months, I’ve been working on a family history book for one of my lines: the Holthoefer family. Although I contributed some of the research to the main part of the book, my ‘big’ contribution is a short chapter on a collateral line: the Kaechle/Koechle family. Even a ‘short’ chapter takes a lot of work! Headstone of Thaddeus Koechle (Photo by Shirley Lindenberger Hazelwood, posted at FindaGrave.com) Though it’s been a lot of hard work, I’ve learned a lot as I went through the process. And, no, it isn’t...
LESSON LEARNED: Changing the spelling makes a difference! For the past few weeks, I’ve been working on the family of Thaddeus Koechle who immigrated from Germany to America in the summer of 1851 with his wife and 5 children. But, there was something odd about the oldest child, Maria or Mary. She appeared to have been born about 2 years before Thaddeus and his wife, Katharina Kern, were married. Thada Koechle, passenger #281, 05 July 1851, Ship Monmouth, Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010 (Maria, age 17, is 3rd on this...
While at GRIP (Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh) last week, the news at dinner one night was that Ancestry had released a new database. It was called “Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007” and offered more information than the “Social Security Death Index.” But, we were told, do your homework first! (Yes, classes at GRIP have homework in the evenings!) (image from Wikipedia) I didn’t access the new index until a couple of nights ago. I decided to work with one of my more unusual surnames: Kaechle. And, I found a lot of new information! If you don’t know...
Thaddeus Kaechle, my 3rd great grandfather, arrived at Castle Garden in New York aboard the ship Monmouth in the summer of 1851 with his wife, Katherine, and five or six children. (Only five are listed on the passenger list, but there should be six.) They were in Huron County, Ohio when, two years later, his wife gave birth to their 7th and later 8th children, both daughters. Thada Koechle, passenger #281, 05 July 1851, Ship Monmouth, Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010 A big breakthrough on this family was the German marriage records on...
As a senior in high school, my mother earned the title of “Homemaker of Tomorrow.” Though I’ve heard that story before, it was exciting to get a hint from RootsMagic and then find a newspaper article of her achievement at MyHeritage.com through their affiliation with NewspaperArchive.com. What a treat to find an actual photo of my mom! She’s wearing a plaid dress she made that, she told me, had very intricate pleats. The article says she won the title because “her score was the highest on a written knowledge and attitude test…” While I hope she had a great attitude,...
Lisa Alzo has used the month of March for her “Fearless Females” blogging prompts for the past 6 years. She has posted her daily prompts and has also included free access to her “Tips and Tricks for Tracing Female Ancestors” Webinar for the month. March 2nd prompt: Post a photo of one of your female ancestors. Who is in the photo? When was it taken? Why did you select this photo? Lillian (Ward) Evans, my grandmother Evelyn (Dickson) Kaechle sitting, my great, great grandmother Sallie (Ward) Dickson, age 92 sitting, my mom, her oldest brother Sherman, and baby Ronnie (photo...
2014 has been an amazing year for me and my genealogy research. With increased knowledge, time, and resources available, I’ve uncovered some amazing discoveries! I had thought about making a “top 10” booklet for my family as Christmas gifts, but didn’t get around to it. Maybe I will still do that but give it to them for Valentine’s Day. But, for now, I thought I’d highlight my top 10 finds of the year. 1839 Marriage Record – Parish of Prestwich, Lancaster County, England (image from Ancestry.com) #10 – I didn’t start blogging until March of this year, so my first...
Carrie, over at “Under the Nut Tree Genealogy” participated in an older Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge today. This post, from January 18th of this year, is titled “How Many Children/Grandchildren in Your Matrilineal Line?” I thought I’d participate as I didn’t have a blog in January. Here’s the challenge: Consider your Matrilineal Line (mother’s mothers mother’s, etc.) families – the ones from your mother back through her mother all the way back to the first of that matrilineal line in your family group sheets or genealogy database. List the names of these mothers, and their lifespan years. Use your paper...
