Tip - Don't Overlook Old Social News

Have you ever tried to piece together who's who in a family? Of course you have! It really gets interesting when the eldest children in family are having grandkids while their younger siblings are still working on cranking out their own babies. Well stop banging your head on the desk in frustration!

If your ancestors lived in a small town, don't overlook the social gossip that was printed in the newspapers. They often show party guest lists, out of town visitors, medical updates, estate sales (with every item being sold listed), etc. In small towns everyone knew everyone else's business.

Guest lists for family dinners or reunions can be a real find for the family genealogist. At these events you know that almost everyone who attended is related to the host in some way, by blood or marriage. Now that you have the names, you just need to piece them together. Of course there is always the possibility to keep in mind that single attendees may have been boyfriends or girlfriends who never made it to marrying into the family....or they could be grandkids or inlaws or....

Here is an example from my paternal family. The folks I've been able to positively identify have corresponding notes. There are a few that I'm still working on and haven't pinpointed their relationship yet.

I've used my paternal grandmother, Ada M. (DeHart) Yohn as the base person to use in the relationship metric.

News article that appeared in the Reading (Berks County, PA) Eagle, on May 22, 1931

My notes on the Guest List:

Rev. A. R. Bachman - pastor of St. John's Reformed Church, Mt. Aetna, Berks Co., PA, the family church

Miss Maggie Stumbach

Mrs. Lizzie Lightner

Samuel DeHart - brother to my grandmother

Mr. and Mrs. Lewis B. Miller, Philadelphia - sister to my grandmother (Martha)

Mr. and Mrs. John Thomas

Mrs Emma Hoffman and Children, Jacob and Russell - sister to my grandmother

Mrs. Kate Boeshore and daughter Emma, Fredericksburg - sister to my grandmother

Mr. and Mrs. Frank DeHart and daughter Mary - brother to my grandmother

Charles DeHart - brother to my grandmother

Mrs. Ada Yohn and children Floyd, Evelyn, Arline, and Fern - my grandmother and her 4 kids, my Dad wasn't born until December of that year.

Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Bulles and children Elizabeth and Bernice - sister to my grandmother (Lillie)

Mrs. Carrie Sherman, Reading - sister to my grandmother

Mr. and Mrs. Hiram DeHart and children Allen and Alberta - brother to my grandmother

Miss Maggie DeHart - sister to my grandmother

Mr. and Mrs. Lewis DeHart and children Lucille and Curtis - brother to my grandmother

Mr. and Mrs. Henry DeHart, Myerstown - brother to my grandmother

Mr. and Mrs. George DeHart, Lebanon - brother to my grandmother

Mr. and Mrs. Artemus Bulles - nephew to my grandmother,  Raymond and Lillie Bulles's son

Lewis Bear - Carrie Sherman's companion/2nd husband (actually spelled Louis)

Stanley Adams, Reading

William Shimp, Wernersville

Mildred, Eleanor and Lucy Ream. Fredericksburg - My grandmother's sister, Kate Boeshore's granddaughters via daughter Mary E. (Boeshore) Ream

Miss Ethel Balthaser

Rufus Brigel - future husband of Elizabeth Bulles (dau of Raymond and Lillie Bulles)

Mr. and Mrs. Ross Bear, Reading - (related to Louis Bear, but how?)

Tombstone Tuesday - A Farmer & His Wife

Lee & Phyllis (nee Manmiller) Stitzel

Location: Zion Moselem Lutheran Church, Moselem Church Road, Richmond Township, Berks County, PA 

Although Lee Stitzel was four years younger than my stepfather, Walter C. L. Adam, Lee was actually the much younger half-brother of my stepdad's father, Walter J. Adam. So Lee was my stepfather's uncle, even though he was younger than my stepfather..

Aren't overlapping generations fun in family trees? You'd think from ages that Walt would be Lee's older cousin, but Walt was actually Lee's nephew.

Lee was a proud farmer and hunter and wanted that memorialized in his stone design. His wife, a fan of playing BINGO has her imprint in the BINGO card that also is featured on the stone.

(Photo by Karen Fox 2010)

Click the photo for a larger image

Tombstone Tuesday - A Genealogist's Delight!

Tombstone Tuesday - A Family Tree in Stone

Location: Zion Moselem Lutheran Church, Moselem Church Road, Richmond Township, Berks County, PA

According to my mother, Herbert and Elda Adam were the uncle and aunt of my late stepfather Walter C. L. Adam. Someday, a genealogist will stumble upon their tombstone and do a great big Happy Dance.

The front face of the stone is quite nice and includes a lovely portrait of the couple. But it looks like a typical tombstone, yes?

 photo by Karen Fox 2010

(Click photo to see enlarged image)

But walk around to the reverse of the stone and you'll find the full family tree (father's paternal line and mother's paternal line) back to their immigrant ancestors for both husband and wife! Also there are three photo portraits of the couple's grown sons and their wives and the wives' maiden names are included in the inscriptions identifying the photos.

photo by Karen Fox 2010

(Click photo to see enlarged image)

Now why couldn't my gr-gr-grandfather of the brick wall have a stone like this?

Tombstone Tuesday: Carrie DeHart Sherman Bear

Carrie M. (nee DeHart) Sherman Bear

Carrie M. DeHart was my paternal grandmother's younger sister. Since my paternal grandparents had both passed away before I was born, Aunt Carrie stepped in and acted as sort of a surrogate grandmother to me as a young girl. She was a classic Pennsylvania Dutch farm woman and she was fluent in both PA German dialect and in English, although her English was heavily accented.

Carrie was twice widowed, first in 1921, then again in 1961. When she passed on in 1974, she was buried in St. John's Church Cemetery, Mt. Aetna, Berks County, Pennsylvania, between her two husbands. She shares a stone with husband #1, Herbert Sherman. Husband #2, Lewis Bear, lies immediately to her right with his own military stone marker.

Carrie and Husband #1, Herbert Sherman.

Carrie's husband #2, Lewis Bear, who lies immediately to the right of Carrie.

I miss you Aunt Carrie!

Surname Saturday: My Maternal Philadelphia PA Surnames

My maternal grandfather, Raymond Hirst, was born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania and raised there until the time he joined the military. He married my grandmother, a girl from Upstate New York, and settled in Watertown, Jefferson County, NY to live and raise his family. Raymond died there in 1965 and is buried in North Watertown Cemetery.

I don't know much of Raymond's family, but thanks to Lorraine Altimus, a second cousin who connected with me through Ancestry.com, I have some information to hopefully build upon. I have so much more to learn about this branch of my family.

Davis, Eckard, Esher, Esslinger, Hirst, Regan, Roulston, Steele

Hirst was my grandfather's surname. Eckard (sometimes spelled Eckart), Davis and Steele are in my direct line. The other names are from Raymond's sisters' lines.

If these Philadelphia PA names ring a bell with you, please contact me - we may be related and I'd love to hear from you!

Other comments are always welcome as well :o)

Military Monday - WWI Draft Reg, Earl L. Yohn

1917 WWI Draft Registration

Earl L. Yohn (my paternal grandfather)

Draft Registration Cards can be a terrific source of information, even if like my grandfather, your ancestor was never called to actually serve in the military 

Questions Asked – 1st WW I Draft Registration (card with 12 Questions)

Side 1

Name in full - given name, family name - Earl Leroy Yohn
Age in years [This information is asked but it is not a numbered question] 25

Home address - #, street, city, state 1044 Moss Reading Penna

Date of birth - month, day, year April 9 1892

Are you (1) a natural-born citizen, (2) a naturalized citizen, (3) an alien, (4) or have you declared your intention (specify which) Natural-Born

Where were you born? town, state, nation Greshville Penna

If not a citizen, of what country are you a citizen or subject?

What is your present trade, occupation, or office? Trucking

By whom employed? Where employed? Bethlehem Steel Co. Reading PA

Have you a father, mother, wife, child under 12, or a sister or brother under 12, solely dependent on you for support (specify which)? Wife

Married or single (which)? Race (specify which)? Married - Caucasian

What military service have you had? Rank - branch - years - nation or state None

Do you claim exemption from draft (specify grounds)?

signature or mark of registrant (signed Earl Leroy Yohn)

[The following is printed across the lower left-hand triangular corner or the card:]
If person is of African descent, cut off this corner.

___________________________
1st Registration – Side 2, Additional Information (card with 12 Questions)

ར Tall, medium or short (specify which)? Slender, medium or stout (which)? Medium/Medium

ར Color of eyes, color of hair Gray / Light

ར Has person lost arm, leg, hand, foot, or both eyes, or is he otherwise disabled (specify)?

Signature of Registrar (signed James E. Shalter)
Precinct, city or county, state (?precinct) Reading Penna
Date of registration June 5-1917

 

Sentimental Sunday - 5 Generations, Same Church

St. John's Church

Mt. Aetna, Berks County, PA

 View of St. John's from the far end of the cemetery

(photo taken 25 September 2010 by Karen Fox)

St. John's Church is a small intimate country church. It was originated as a Protestant Reformed Congregation, and for many years was associated with the United Church of Christ. In 2003,  it elected to become an independent, non-denominational Christian Church. This was the church of my paternal family for five generations.

Buried in the adjoining church cemetery are

• my gr-gr-grandparents, Nathan and Elizabeth (Achenbach) Gruber
• my gr-grandparents, T.(Thomas) Henry and Mary E. (Gruber) DeHart
• my grandparents, Earl L. and Ada M. (DeHart) Yohn
• my father, John Henry Yohn
• I  [Karen M. (Yohn) Fox] was baptized as an infant in St. John's Church in 1958.

In addition, many extended family members were baptized, confirmed, married and/or buried at St. John's.

Interior view of St. John's sanctuary taken from rear right corner

(Photo taken 25 September 2010 by Karen Fox)

As a child I have many memories of visiting the cemetery to place flowers on my grandparents' grave (they both passed before I was born). When I'd see a familiar last name or an interesting looking tombstone, I'd always pester my father with questions -  "Who is that? Tell me about them!". He'd do his best, even if it belonged to a stranger. As I grew older, I saw the empty spaces in the cemetery slowly start to fill with relatives I knew and loved - my many gr-aunts and gr-uncles, my own aunts and uncles, my father's cousins, and then my father joined them. Visiting that cemetery is visiting my childhood.

*

Sports Center Saturday - Run Floyd Run!

A Champion In The Family

Tales of a 1930s Long Distance Runner

Previously in this blog, I posted the tombstone of my paternal Uncle, Floyd Yohn. Uncle Floyd was 13 years old when my father was born and forty years old by the time I was born. When I was younger, I used to be told of his glory days as a high school miler and distance runner. I always thought these stories were embellished and exaggerated by the family through retelling over the years. Then came the day as a young adult when I was shown the spare room in his home where all his trophies, ribbons, awards and news clippings were on display. Wow! Well, life went on and those stories were shuffled to the back of my memories.

About a year ago, I was researching someone else in my family tree online and I stumbled across archived newspaper articles about Uncle Floyd and his high school running team. There were meet results and opinion articles by the local sports reporting staff. In one article, the writer compared Uncle Floyd to Gene Venzke, another local runner who had competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympics! Another articles referred to him as the ace speedster captain of the high school cross country ream. Yet another news article reports that his coach claimed that as a freshman in practice, Floyd had posted the fastest first showing the coach had seen in over a decade, close to a five minute mile in 1937.

 

Floyd E. Yohn. Earl L. Yohn, John H. Yohn

(undated photo from the collection of Karen Fox)

The family  stories were true as told! Uncle Floyd had been a shining star.

One of my Dad's favorite stories was that when they were boys, my Dad would take the trolley or bus from the city where they lived to the amusement park out in the eastern suburbs. Meanwhile, Uncle Floyd would leave at the same time, but run there instead and be waiting at the entrance gate for my Dad when he arrived. Not only did Floyd het there more quickly, but since he had saved his fare money, he could spend more at the park. Another was about when the family made a rare trip (remember, this was during the Great Depression) to watch my Uncle compete in the Penn Relays.  That was a real thill for them.

Life and practicality overtook Uncle Floyd's talent and love of the sport; he never had the opportunity to aim for the Olympics - out of high school, there were bills to pay and he had to help support the family and his aging parents. But he never gave up his trophies, memories and stories. Tales of his high school exploits always made him smile.

One of the earliest articles about Uncle Floyd and his long distance talent

The  Athlete Gene skipped Me,

~ Karen the AncesTree Sprite

Family Recipe Friday - Hickory Nut Cake

(Annie Adam original handwritten recipe collection held by Karen Fox)

My step-grandmother (Mom's second hubby's mother) was a real Pennsylvania Dutch farm wife. Nana, as we called her, was a "wunnerful goot" cook and she was well known for her baked goods.This was one of my favorite cakes that she used to bake. I was a young adult when Mom remarried, but Nana and Pop-pop Adam always treated us kids as if we had always been among their own grandchildren. 

Nana's written recipes usually consisted of just an ingredients list, she didn't need instructions on how to make something beyond that. The directions in this recipe came from me following her around while she baked one of these and jotting down my own notes.

Hickory Nut Cake
(from the collection of the late Annie Adam 1918-1982)

Note: If hickory nuts are not easily available to you, this recipe is also quite good using black walnuts as a substitute.

1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
a lump of butter the size of a walnut
1 cup milk
2-1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup of chopped hickory nuts

Mix together in a bowl all the ingredients except the chopped nuts. When smooth, stir in the nuts. Bake at 350 degrees in 2 nine inch greased & floured cake pans or one 9" x 13" greased & floured pan for approx. 25-30 mins or until tester comes out clean.

After cooling, Nana would usually frost the cake with a vanilla buttercream or cream cheese frosting.

Enjoy!

Missing you Nana,
~Karen the AncesTree Sprite

Maritime Monday - 1906 Fishing Yachts Capsize, Sharks, Deaths, Daring Rescues!

 Herbert M. Shivers

Today, for a change of pace, I am leaving my family to rest and will be talking about an incident that happened in 1906 to my "other half" Jim's grandfather, Herbert M. Shivers of Anglesea, N.J.  Herbert at this time worked for his father's bricklaying and plastering business.but spent part of his time fishing for the local and New York markets. Herbert also ran and captained fishing parties for tourists and locals. News of what happened on this particular day was published as far away as in the New York Times, Philadelphia newspapers and even my hometown newspaper, the Reading Eagle,  which is about 60 miles west of Philadelphia.

Herbert later went on to be elected to serve on the town Council for 12 years (2 of which were as president)  and he was then elected to serve as Mayor of North Wildwood (of which by that time, Anglesea had become a part) for one term, 1923 - 1925.

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Reading (PA) Eagle, Monday July 30, 1906, Page 4 Column 4

MANY DROWNED.
Sloop Yachts Capsized Near Angleesea

Anglesea, N.J., July 30 --- Caught in the trough of a tremendous sea, the sloop yachts Nora and Alva B., coming in from the Fishing Banks just after noon yesterday, capsized on Hereford Inlet Bay.

There were 32 persons on the Nora, of whom seven were lost, and 12 on the Alva B., all of whom but one were saved.The list shows these bodies recovered:

Fisher, Frederick, Phila.
Hammell, Herbert, Lansdale, Penn.
Snyder, Walter, Phila.
Fogarty, John, Haverford, Penn.
Starkey, J., Phila.
Donohue, Jerry, Phila.
Williams, Griffith, Phila
Lodner, Samuel, of Woodbury, N.J.

To add to the terrors of the situation a school of sharks was seen swimming around the scene of the disaster, and some of the survivors declare that they had to fight the big fish as well as try to save themselves. Rescuers also declare that the sharks gave them a lot of trouble. Others say the fish were porpoises.

Dramatic features of the double disaster are the heroic work of United States life savers, who were ready for the emergency, and met it with their usual magnificent bravery, in spite of the fact that they are out of service and without pay during this and next month; the heroic behavior of Captain Herbert Shivers, in charge of the Nora, who dived into the hold of his foundered craft and secured an armful of life preservers, which he distributed among those who were struggling in the water about him, and the astounding coincidence of the second wreck following so closely upon the heels of the first.

The Alva B. was owned by E. J. Haliman, a lawyer, of Pottsville, Penn'a. He and a party of friends were on board at the time.

A thorough search to-day failed to bring to light further loss of life. Some of those rescued, in an exhausted condition, remained here over night and departed for home to-day.

Typing with a life vest because you can't be too sure,

~Karen the AncesTree Sprite

Sunday's Obituary - Henry F. Yohn

Henry F. Yohn (1814-1883) was the brother of one of my paternal gr-gr-gr-grandfathers, George F. Yohn (1802-1880). George predeceased Henry by 3 years, so was not mentioned in this obit. Henry was an interesting and accomplished fellow and you'll enjoy reading about him. 

~ Karen the AncesTree Sprite

Pennsylvania Pioneers (My Father's Folk)

I'm going to get this blog ball rolling by introducing surnames from my father's side of the family tree. My father came from a long line of Pennsylvania Dutch (German) folks. These were the early immigrants from the Palatine region of Germany that arrived at either the Port of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania or who migrated south from the Schoharie Settlement in NY to the Tulpehocken Valley in western Berks County PA in the 1700s and early 1800s.

My father's ancestors never ventured farther west from the Port of Philadelphia than western Berks/eastern Lebanon Counties in Pennsylvania - less than 90 miles distance in over 260 years. I myself was born, raised and have always lived in Berks County. My roots run deep here.  

Stories from my searches will follow in later posts to this blog, but for now here are Pennsylvania surnames I've found in my father's side of my family tree (in alphabetical order):

Achenbach   Albright   Betz  Bickel  Christler  Closs  DeHart  Dengler  Dieffenbach  Fronfelt/Fronefield  Gehris   Gernandt  Gruber  Heydt  Hiester   Imbody   Jauss  Kastnitz  Kobel  Krauss  Lieb  Mather  Muthard  Neiman  Reigner   Schmidt  Smeltzer  Strunk  Yohn/Yahn/Jahn 

Could you be a long lost distant cousin?

~ Karen the AncesTree Sprite