This post is based on Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” challenge. This week’s theme is: VALENTINE. On Valentine’s Day 1896, Louisa (Heuszel) Werther gave birth to her 11th child, a son. She and her husband, Emil Werther, named their son Walter Valentine Werther. [Emil’s sister, Guntherine (Werther) Peters, was my great, great grandmother.] Here are three images from his life: Signature from WWII draft card at Ancestry.com. The “i” in Valentine appears to be dotted with a heart! Photo labeled “Children of Frederick August Emil and Louise Matilda (Heuszel) Werther, Date Unknown” from files of Beulah (Peters)...
Evidence suggested that my great, great, great grandfather, Gunther Werther, was born in 1819 in Berka in present-day Germany. However, locating his baptism on an FHL film proved quite difficult. The film covered dozens of villages and included baptisms, marriages, and death records. Yesterday, I returned to search the film for the second time. This time, I decided to start at the beginning. I saw a typed listing of what appeared to be villages. And, on the next few pages, I saw handwritten, numbered lists of what also appeared to be village names. Did one of these lists show the...
August Heuszel, my great, great grandmother’s brother-in-law, served time in the Texas State Penitentiary for “manufacturing” and “selling intoxicating liquor.” The year was 1922. This was near the start of prohibition which lasted from 1920 to 1933. Texas Convict and Conduct Registers, 1875-1945, Huntsville, B 047021-052020 (accessed at Ancestry.com) The photos above show August’s record in the “Texas Convict and Conduct Register.” The columns tell us more about August Heuszel: Registered #: 18037 Name: A. Heuszel Age: 65 Height: 5-3 5/8 Weight: 128 Complexion: W [white] M-Fair Eyes: W Maroon [maroon eyes? but there are others listed as maroon] Hair:...
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...
I was ‘making’ mugs on Shutterfly this morning while thinking about last minute gift ideas. (You can still order them today and get them in time for Christmas with 2-day shipping!) I decided to use some of my heritage photos to see how they looked. I accidentally clicked on an obituary for my 2nd great grandmother’s brother, Emil Werther. While it’s kind of creepy to have a mug with an obituary, I think it looks really neat! Mug sample created with Shutterfly So, while you probably don’t want to order an obituary mug for your loved one, how about using...
Among the hundreds of records I received from my family in Kansas a few weeks ago was a death certificate for my great, great grandmother’s sister. They were both born in Germany in the mid-1800’s and immigrated to the United States in 1869 at the ages of 23 (my 2x great grandmother) and 10 (her youngest sister). Wilhelminia (Werther) Heuszel’s death certificate The sister’s name was Wilhelmina Fredericka Augusta Werther, but she went by Minnie. The name recorded on her death certificate as reported by her son, Frank, threw me for a minute… and then I understood. She’s listed as...
Today I’m continuing to work on a major genealogy organization project starting with just one surname. When I visited family in Kansas last month, I printed out Family Group Sheets from my RootsMagic program. But, I really didn’t like the format. So, today I’ve been filling one out the old fashioned way – by hand. I started by filling out the details for my 3x great grandfather, Johann Charles/Carl Guenther Werther: BORN: 17 May 1819 n in Berka, Sonderhausen, Prussia (Germany) RELIGION: Protestant MARRIED: about 1845, probably in Berka DIED: 19 Apr 1899 CAUSE OF DEATH: dropsy (from obituary) BURIED:...
I’ve continued to look into the family of C. R. Viney who was a son-in-law of my 3x great grandfather, Guenther Werther. C. R. married Guenther’s daughter, Augusta “Gussie” Werther. Yesterday I discovered that C. R., who was born in Canada, served on a steamboat in the Civil War. As I tried to learn more about C. R.’s story, my research at newspapers.com helped me to uncover several siblings. Through these siblings I was able to trace C. R. back to his roots in Canada using the 1851 and 1861 censuses. These records revealed his parents names, Joseph & Jane,...
Last week I read “Shiloh” by James Reasoner about the Battle of Shiloh in the Civil War. I was particularly interested in this book of the series because one of my relatives fought as a Confederate soldier in this battle. This book of historical fiction, however, focused on a character who fought in the battle from a steamboat. Yes, my history background is weak, though I am actively making it stronger. But, I didn’t know that steamboats played a part in the Civil War. As I read about the character’s experience on the steamboat and then fighting in the battle,...
I’ve written posts about Ephraim Bennett (my great, great grandmother’s brother) killing his abusive brother-in-law, Nathan Buchanan. A few days ago, I uncovered another murder in my family tree. This time some in-laws allegedly killed my 3rd great grandfather’s granddaughter (so she’s my first cousin, three times removed) to prevent her from testifying against her husband! Her Death is Cause for Four Being Held, Springfield Republican, Springfield, Missouri, 01 Nov 1911, page 1, column 4, digital image newspapers.com, (http://www.newspapers.com: accessed 30 Oct 2014 Ollie Werther’s father, Guenther “Kenny” Werther, immigrated from Germany with his family when he was 15 years...
