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      

It's A Small World ...

While working on my son-in-law's family tree I made an interesing discovery. Son-in-law's 2nd great-aunt lived down the street from my mother! 

According to the 1940 United States Census record:

Herman and Elise Vollmert Darr (son-in-law's 2nd great-aunt and her husband) resided at 1508 N. Madeira Street.

My grandparents, Charles F. and Anna E. Wakefield, lived at 506 N. Maderia. Included in the household, was my five year old mother.

 

Maderia is a long city street. Doubtful they were borrowing a cup of sugar. But, each family had children in the same age range. Did they attend school together? Play in the park? Shop at nearby stores?

Fun to think, my mother and one of my son-in-law's cousins may have been playmates.

It is indeed a small world.

Finding Ezra J. Starr ~ One Puzzle Piece At A Time

One truth we learn as family historians - data may not always be true. People may not know the information, have part of the facts, or outright lie. We hope what our ancestors share is gospel. But, that is rarely the case.

Incorrect information caused years of confusion locating my husband's 3rd great-uncle, Ezra Starr. Brother to his 2nd great-grandfather, Alfred Platt Starr. We have very few facts about Ezra. His approximate birth date, place of birth, and the profession of blacksmith. Sometimes he used the middle initial "J". Surprisingly, there are few Ezra's fitting the description.

Several years ago, I discovered what was to be the first puzzle piece. Or, was it?

Here we have a Kentucky death certificate for Ezra Starr [1]. Correct name, age and occupation. But, we see him born in Germany, along with his parents. My husband's Starr line came from England, to the United States, in the late 1600's. This doesn't seem to be our guy. But, just because you never know, I saved the record to my Shoebox on Ancestry.com. Didn't want to lose the "possible" information. 

Kentucky Post

Covington, Kenton, Kentucky

23 Sep, 1904

During my weekly "Starr" family newspaper searching [2], came across the next piece of the puzzle. Located in Covington, Kenton, Kentucky. Same town referenced in Ezra's death record. We link Alfred and Ezra! The case received lots of press. Giving details, confirming the relationship between our Starr brothers. But, why Germany on Ezra's death certificate?

This Starr line moved from Massachusetts, to Connecticut, to New York, to Pennsylvania. Once in Pennsylvania, they settled in and around Littlestown, Adams County. Most of the family records are located in this town.

A podcast led me to the final puzzle piece. One favorite is Research Like a Pro with the Family Locket Genealogists. Listening again to all the previous episodes. Sometimes we miss information that may be vital. A light bulb went off with an episode about locality research. Did I miss something in Pennsylvania?

FamilySearch has wonderful locality pages. Researching the Adams County, Pennsylvania Wiki page [3] we discovered the answer. Listed are boroughs, unincorporated communities and townships. One of the townships being Germany Township.

"Germany Township is in southern Adams County, along the Maryland border. It borders the west and south sides of the borough of Littlestown. Pennsylvania Route 97 passes through the township, leading northwest 9 miles (14 km) to Gettysburg and south 12 miles (19 km) as Maryland Route 97 to Westminster, Maryland. Pennsylvania Route 194 crosses Route 97 in Littlestown and passes through the township, turning to Maryland Route 194 and leading southwest 5 miles (8 km) to Taneytown, Maryland."

Ezra most likely told his fellow Kentuckians he was from Germany Township. The official filling out the death record may have interpreted this as a country. Having no knowledge of the area in Pennsylvania, they wouldn't know about the township. Not a lie, just a case of misunderstanding the facts. We see this in many records.

All the pieces have come together. Solving the mystery of Ezra J. Starr. Also, we now have the story of a family law suit. 

Moral of the story? Keep records, even when they seem not to be part of the puzzle. Don't stop digging. Connect with other researchers, in every format possible. And, never give up! The puzzle piece you need to complete the story, could be around the corner.

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Sources:

[1] Kentucky, U.S., Death Records, 1852-1965; indexed database and digital image, Ancestry.com (https//www.ancestry.com : accessed December 8, 2020), "City of Covington, KY, Department of Health,Bureau of Statistics", page 206 (image 223 of 1092), Ezra Starr death entry, February 19, 1904.

[2] "Want Settlement of an Estate, Heirs Filed Suit Against the Administrator," Kentucky [Covington, KY] Post newspaper, Friday, Sep 23, 1904, page 5 column 3, GenealogBank.com (https://www.genealogybank.com : accessed December 8, 2020).

[3] Adams County, Pennsylvania Genealogy Wiki Page, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org) : accessed December 8, 2020), 

Tracking Ancestors with City Directory Spreadsheet

https://pixabay.com/vectors/cityscape-city-town-row-houses-2747226/

If you have been reading the blog, you know that I love spreadsheets. Using them has helped me organize information. And best of all, answer questions.

A research problem has been our Gaphardt/Gephardt surname. At times, my ancestors used one or both of these spellings. Trying to determine relationships has been overwhelming. That is when I began using city directory research spreadsheets. 

This is the template I created. Named with directory title and date range. Added title of each individual directory. Now I can copy for each surname I wish to research.

Located the Digitized Baltimore City Directories on University of Maryland website. These are digitized from Internet Archive. Also, available on Ancestry.com. I find these directories easier to negotiate. Also, placed a link to the website, ensuring I have exact location the information was obtained.

Here is the first entry for my 2nd great-grandfather, George C. Gaphardt. Another surname spelling! Gephart  is now added to the growing list.

By 1871, we see my 2nd great-uncle, John C. Gaphardt appear in the directory. Verifying address for the family. My 2nd great-grandfather is listed as Gaphardt and Gephardt! No wonder I'm having such difficulty with this ancestral line.

Adding subsequent directory information, we discover the family relocating many times. Also, tracked their movements during gap created by the loss of the 1890 United States Federal Census. During this time span, the family relocated three times. Several of the addresses have previously been unknown. I will be searching the Maryland Land Records website for possible deeds. These may have important clues.

By 1901, my line settles on Gaphardt. In each succeeding record, they use that surname. But, we still see the Gephardt surname. This spreadsheet has given me a place to gather facts, and hopefully, discover relationships. I know from DNA matches, both of these surnames are indeed related.

With the directories, I made a fun discovery. How my 2nd great-grandmother met her second husband. 

According to the directories, by 1860 the Judd family was residing at 20 Walker. The last entry for them and this address being 1882.

Looking at the 1868-1869 city directory we see:

• Henry Horn - tailor - 11 Walker (future 2nd husband of Elizabeth Judd Wakefield)
• Philomena Judd - tailoress - 20 Walker (2nd wife and widow of 3rd great-grandfather Mathias Judd, step-mother of Elizabeth Judd Wakefield Horn)
• Henry Wakefield - tailor  - 290 s Ann (2nd great-grandfather, 1st husband of Elizabeth Judd)

This is the last record we found for Henry Wakefield. I believe he passed away somewhere between 1869 and when Elizabeth remarries. The hunt continues!

By 1870 United States Federal Census [1], Elizabeth is residing with Phillipina Judt. Along with her young son, back to the family home.

On October 27, 1872 [2], Elizabeth weds neighbor, Henry Horn. The young widow and little boy, begin a new life. With the widower and his two small daughters. The couple would go on to have seven children. A combined total of ten children.

By the way, did you catch they were all in the tailoring business? Another connection revealed by the directories. 

Love when stories come alive using the records.

Here are a few links about using city directories in family history research:

City Directories for Genealogy When There's Been a Loss of Vital Records by Amie Bowser Tennant on The Genealogy Reporter

Directories: City, County, Address, etc. - General Resources on Cyndi's List

How to Use City Directories in Your Genealogy Research by Lisa Lisson of Are You My Cousin?

United State Directories - FamilySearch

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Sources 

[1] 1870 U.S. census, Baltimore City, Maryland, population schedule, Baltimore Ward 6, page 224 (penned), dwelling/family 1859, Phillipina Judt household; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://ancestry.com : accessed 04 December 2020); imaged from NARA microfilm 552073, roll M593_574

[2] Henry Horn entry, Baltimore City Court of Common Pleas, marriage index (marriage index, male), 1851-1885, CM205, reel CR 1672; Maryland State Archives

Found Amelia Earhart!

Amelia Earhart - taken 1936

NASA on The Commons

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So, did I get your attention with that title? Think we found the most famous missing woman? Actually, I found Amelia in my husband's family tree.

Last week Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings posted "Lucille Ball is My 7th Cousin Twice Removed". He discovered Lucy in his family tree with FamilySearch Famous Relatives.

FamilySearch Famous Relatives  

I tried the search for my tree, nothing. Wasn't surprised, since most of these ancestors are fairly recent immigrants.  Many lines don't go back further than my great-grandparents. The tree is not filled out enough to connect with "famous relatives".

 

Then we search hubby's tree. ALL his lines have been in the United States since the late 1600s. So, figured we would have a few interesting relationships. And he did! Twenty seven presidents, eleven inventors and scientists, twenty entertainers and artists, seven trailblazers and two athletes. Quite an array of notables.

Most of the "predicted relationships" go back quite far. Many I haven't fully documented. But, there is one I can verify. Amelia Earhart. She and Doug are 5th cousins once removed. The common ancestral couple being Johann Jacob Altman and Anna Maria Eisenmann. 

This was a fun discovery. Even hubby was impressed. Family history to share with the granddaughters. Now when reading a story about Amelia, they will know they share the same DNA. 

Check out the site. Hopefully, you are like my husband, with a nice fully documented tree. You may discover famous relatives.