In the News! ~ Discovery with Cluster Research

https://pixabay.com/vectors/newspaper-article-journal-headlines-154444/

Newspapers! One of a family historian's best research tools. They are rich with information about our ancestor's lives. From birth to death, the details we find are pure gold. Every day, I'm digging into these sites, searching for hints.

Democratic advocate

Friday, Dec 29, 1911

Westminster, MD

vol:47, pg. 2 

GenealogyBank

Often times, a small article can lead to interesting family stories. That is what happened when I discovered this tidbit from a Westminster, Maryland newspaper for Frederick Walther.

You may wonder how I found the clipping with Walther surname misspelled. Actually, I was researching James Fraley, husband of Cecelia Kreymborg.

How are Cecelia and James connected to Frederick N. Walther, Jr.? Here is the relationship:

• Lillian G. Kreymborg - my son-in-law's great-grandmother
• George W. Walther - husband of Lillian G. Kreymborg - son-in-law's great-grandfather
• Frederick N. Walther, Jr. - brother of George W. Walther - son-in-law's 2nd great-uncle
• Cecelia Kreymborg - sister of Lillian G. Kreymborg - son-in-law's 2nd great-aunt
• Stuart S. Fraley - husband of Cecelia Kreymborg - son-in-law's 2nd great-uncle by marriage

James was the husband of Frederick's sister-in-law's sister. A little convoluted, but shows how doing cluster research is very important. Without James, I most likely would never have found this article.

I discovered the information using a method called cluster research. Many times, cluster research helps answer questions. Cluster research is defined as "a research technique employed by genealogists to learn more about an ancestor by examining records left by the ancestor's cluster. A person's cluster consists of the extended family, friends, neighbors, and other associates such as business partners"

The newspaper article gave us new family information to research. When did they purchase property in Westminster? As far as I knew, the family always resided in Baltimore City, Maryland.

Also, the amount of money that changed hands. Checking a conversion website, $1,250 dollars in 1911 is worth $36,933.16 today. Where did James acquire these funds? In the post "The Bride Wore Gray", we learn both of Cecelia's parents passed away by 1910. Did she and her sister, Lillian, receive an inheritance? Enough to purchase this property? 

By searching this ancestor's in-law, we discovered an interesting family story. Additional research is needed to discover the Walther family's connection to the town of Westminster. Off to find records to answer these questions!

Several excellent resources for using cluster research in genealogy.

Free Genealogy Help: Cluster Research by the Occasional Genealogist

How to Use Cluster Research a.k.a. FAN Club Research from GenealogyTV

Family History Month! FREE Webinar - Above the Fold: Newsworthy Ancestors

 

https://pixabay.com/vectors/word-cloud-search-ancestry-3331301/

Calling all family history researchers! October is Family History Month. Harford County Public Library will be celebrating with three great FREE virtual programs. 

Next up will be "Above the Fold: Newsworthy Ancestors". Presenting is Jeanette Sheliga. Date of program is Tuesday, October 8, 2024. Time 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 pm. Est. 

Can't attend? No worries! The programs will be recorded and available on the library website for a limited time.

Here is a YouTube link with Jeanette sharing an overview of the program.

Here is the link to register.

Come join the fun!

Family History Month! Three FREE Virtual Progams

https://pixabay.com/vectors/word-cloud-search-ancestry-3331301/

Calling all family history researchers! October is Family History Month. Harford County Public Library will be celebrating with three great FREE virtual programs. 

First up will be "How To Read Old Handwriting". Presenting is Lisa Lisson. Date of program is Tuesday, October 1, 2024. Time 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 pm. Est. 

Can't attend? No worries! The programs will be recorded and available on the library website for a limited time.

Here is a YouTube link with Lisa sharing an overview of the program.

Here is the link to register.

Come join the fun!

My Bohemian Lineage ~ Origin

Son visiting Branice (homeland of ancestors)

When I was young my mother's family talked about our Bohemian line. The elders would speak of the "old country" and share various recipes.

Being a kid, I didn't pay much attention to this discussion. The cousins were more concerned about spare change for the corner store. I should have paid more attention and soaked up information from these family members. Most are no longer with us.

As a teenager in the 70s, the idea of being Bohemian had a very different meaning. I'd tell friends "Yes, I'm a hippie!" Wearing peasant blouses and funky jewelry. To me, this heritage suddenly meant I was cool. Mom would just shake her head and try to explain. But, you know, teenager.

Fast forward to my forties and I began this "family history" journey. The first line to research had to be the Bohemians. 

Bohemia from Wikipedia:

"Bohemia is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohemian kings, including Moravia and Czech Silesia, which case the smaller region is referred to as Bohemia proper as a means of distinction."

Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70254

An 1892 map showing Bohemia proper outlined in pink, Moravia in yellow, and Austrian Silesia in orange

I began research with my great-grandmother, Anna Jerousek. Anna was born in Baltimore, Maryland on July 13, 1879. Her parents were (my 2nd great-grandparents) Frank Joseph Jerousek and Barbara Fuka. This was our Bohemian ancestral couple.

Finding records for Anna on Ancestry proved challenging. I couldn't locate her family on the census records. Spelling variations for Eastern European ancestry proved very tricky for a novice researcher. I found several online articles about the topic. 

Lisa Alzo wrote several were extremely helpful:

Introduction To Researching Eastern European Ancestors 

How to Overcome 5 Brick Walls in Eastern European Genealogy

A wonderful book that Lisa published is "The Family Tree Polish, Czech and Slovak Genealogy Guide: How to Trace Your Family Tree in Eastern Europe".

Also, from several websites, I learned an excellent research technique. You leave out those pesky surnames. Use first names of family members, birth dates, where born and where resided.

Using these methods, I located the family in the 1880 United States Federal Census. They were listed as "Gerushek". Without help from more seasoned researchers, I never would have located them!

1880 United States Federal Census for Frank Jerousek 

Enumerated as Frank Gerushek

Looking at the record the surname is listed as "Yerushek". Sharing this with my mother proved interesting. As a child, she heard the surname was spelled with a "y" instead of "j." The moral of the story, talk to the older generation before hitting your head on brick walls! 

We see Frank and Barbara declaring they were born in Bohemia. 

Anna Jerousek baptism record; Maryland State Archives

St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church; Baltimore, Maryland

Knowing the Jerousek family were Catholics, I researched church records on the Maryland State Archives website. Pay dirt! So excited to see the town where Frank and Barbara were born in Bohemia! Branice.

When I researched this town on Wikipedia there was a small entry that stated:

"Branice is a municipality and village in Pisek District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 300 inhabitants".

Wonder if I'm related to all of them.

On the page was a link to the town. Listed is the historical information about the town, photographs, virtual tours, societies and additional links. 

This brings us to the photograph at the top of this post. Several years ago my son was trekking in Eastern Europe. On his list was Prague. Right away I started researching how close Branice was to his destination. It was a little out of the way, down a long and winding rural road. I asked him if he had time he could swing by and get a picture.

Imagine my surprise when I got a text message with the photograph attached! He fit in a few minutes for a picture under the town sign. Maybe someday he will get the genealogy bug and revisit his Bohemian roots.

Springer Fortune ~ Family Lore

Image by Annette from Pixabay

My favorite part of family history is discovering fantastic stories. All the rumors, secrets, scandals and scalawags hanging about the tree.

For years, my mother-in-law would entertain us with tales of the "Springer Fortune". A story of hidden treasure passed down through generations. My husband's paternal grandmother, Emma Springer, supposedly shared this "legend" with her children and grandchildren.

When I started researching the family line, my husband constantly asked "have you found the fortune yet?" To appease his curiosity, I did a cursory search. Imagine my surprise when this bit of lore was true! Well, sort of.

I discovered many newspaper articles about the fortune on the Chronicling America newspaper website. It was fun to read about various members of the Springer family coming forward for their piece of the pie. 

First up is "The Spirit of Democracy" from Woodsfield, Ohio, dated January 20, 1880. Here were learn about "heirs of the celebrated Charles Christopher Springer estate" making their bid for the fortune. Fun to find the genealogies of claimants listed. 

• The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio), 20 Jan. 1880. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. 

So, maybe there is or at least was a vast fortune. Before linking my husband's line to Charles Christopher Springer, I did a little more newspaper research.

And then we find ...

• The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.), 14 Feb. 1909. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. 

So, the family fortune is a hoax. Hubby was so looking forward to a treasure hunt. 

Interesting to discover others being "told about it by their fathers and grandfathers". Same fashion the tale was shared in our Springer family.

No great bounty was unearthed. Just an interesting bit of family lore. Do you have a tale of fortune and treasure?

Wikipedia has the following entry about the subject:

"The Springer Hoax was a scam starting in the mid 19th century, often using a phony genealogy in various ways to collect money based on the supposed estate of prominent colonialist Carl Christopher/Christoffersson Springer and debts said to be owed to him by various government agencies of Wilmington, Delaware and Stockholm, Sweden. The alleged estate was said to include 1,900 acres of land, 228 acres of which ran though the center of Wilmington, worth up to $150,000,000. Other claims included $100,000,000 deposited in a Stockholm bank."

Further reading about the hoax:

Rootsweb: Springer Hoax

"The fabulous Springer fortune" of Wilmington Delaware from Widener Law Blog, Delaware Library

"Springer Estate" Papers (aka Springer Heir Hoax) from the Springer, Miller & Allied Families Website

Our Ancestor Was ~ a Missionary

Emma Naomi Ruth Shellabear, husband's aunt

b. 11/26/1886 - d. 05/14/1972

A favorite website for researching ancestors is the Library of Congress newspaper website, Chronicling America. I have been fortunate enough to find tons of interesting articles. Also, additional information was discovered on Newspaper.com.

While researching Rev. C.W. Ruth (husband's grandfather), I discovered this unknown family history story about my husband's aunt, Emma Naomi Ruth.

Naomi was Christian's oldest daughter. She was born November 26, 1886. She began missionary work at a very young age. Over her lifetime, she traveled to many out-of-the- way places. I discovered the above photograph on her passport from Ancestry.com, dated September 13, 1916.

Doing further research, I located the articles, which detailed a very anxious time for the entire Ruth family. For a while, they didn't know where Emma was during an earthquake that struck in the path of her travels.

The Sun. (New York, NY) 31 Dec. 1908. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn83030272/1908-12-31/ed-1/.

 

The Indianapolis Star: 31 Dec, 1908; Indianapolis, Indiana; Newspapers.com

The Indiana Star; 01 Jan, 1909; Indianapolis; Indiana; Newspapers.com

The Fairmount News; 06 Apr, 1909; Fairmount, Indiana; Newspapers.com

Can you imagine how harrowing this was for Naomi's parents?! Especially in a time period where communication was not as readily available. 

To learn more about the disaster, searched Chronicling American for "messina".  

          

New-York tribune. (New York, NY) 30 Dec 1908. Retrived from the Library of Congress, 222.loc.gove/item/sn830214/1908-12-30d/ed/1.

Many at Funeral of Daniel Green

Daniel Green 

1st cousin, 4x removed of husband

photograph taken about time of Civil War

born December 05, 1838, Hazlettville, Kent County, Delaware

died August 25, 1916, Newport, New Castle County, Delaware

The News Journal - Monday, August 28, 1916

Wilmington, Delaware, United States