Email from Liechtenstein

Cousin Rainer came through again!


"Ferdinand Marxer (died:  5th January 1726 and his wives Anna Maria Thöni (died 9th October 1678) and Barbara Schächle (died: 1st September 1721). With Barbara Schächle he had 8 children. One oft them is Georg Marxer (born: 4th January 1686). Georg married Katharina Jehli (died: 18th March 1729). They had seven children. One oft them is Ferdinand Marxer (born 8th October 1719). His wife Barbara Batliner (there is no date in the book). They had seven children. One of them is Johann Georg Marxer (born: 8th January 1751   died: 6th April 1829). His wife is Maria Anna Hasler (born:  15th February 1754). The rest you know: Johann Georg Marxer (born: 8th January 1751 …. And so on."


He added another three generations to the Marxer line and we broke the 1600's barrier! When I set out on this journey, I never dreamed we'd go back so far. Huge thanks to Rainer, again. He makes this all seem so easy. Now it's back to the FHC and more microfilmed church records. Must find the documents to accompany all this new information.

Is there such a thing as TMI?

I had to step back and take a big breath. I've had the happy problem of finding too much too soon. I began to feel a little overwhelmed and was feeling a bit buried in details and dates. I knew a break was in order when I couldn't keep one generation straight from another. So, I've had a few days to quiet the mind. I've read my latest issue of Family Tree magazine, watched the two newest episodes of WDYTYA (USA version) and found past episodes of WDYTYA (UK) on You Tube. It's been a lovely little vacation. Then yesterday morning I popped out of bed ready to write a letter to the county courthouse for wills and probates for three great grandpas. I counted it as something done but with breathing room before results come in. I feel refocused and re energized and ready to take just a small bite out of my to do list, for now.

RAGK...Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness

This post led to several emails from Cheryl at Heritage Happens and offers to help translate the document.
Today I received a translation of the document from Cheryl. It reads as follows:

Transcription of text in document

Certificate for Moving Out
1. Nir. 30 page 31
2. Farm hand Johan August Johansson Berggren
3. From Ossjo Westergard, Ljunga parish
4. Born 1863, (sixty three), Ljunga parish, Kronobergs county
5. October 8, named and confirmed by the Lutheran doctrine
6. He is a minor but is free to marry
7. -
8. -
9. Has had cowpox
10. Can read....Approved
11. ...Passable...Christianity Knowledge
12. ......Been on the interrogations
13. Entitled to the Holy Communion
14. -
15. Enjoying Civic trust
16. -
17. -
18. Completed this year's military service. (He is too young)
19. Moves to ..America...
20. Registered for census...Here for next year.....
21. Testified...Ljunga....parish, Kronobergs county
22. Sweden, June 9, 1883

? Svenson
Pastor

transcriber added "Parish is Sodra Ljunga in Kronoberg county
page 31 = the page in the Church Book of Household
pastor's first name is unreadable.

This new information led me right to the Swedish Church Records at Ancestry.com and this entry that has eluded me for months and months. #53, second from the bottom. Now to decipher the names of his parents.

But in moments, I've jumped miles ahead in my research of this stubborn brickwall Great Grandpa. 

Big thanks to Cheryl and her translators for all their help with this document. I can not say thank you enough.

Messages from England

Original photos sent by email and copy of message from 2002

Photo after applying a bit of photoshop magic

Great Great Grandpa William Johnstone

I've been in contact with a UK cousin. Philip is a third cousin once removed to be exact. He has been generous to share a family three, photos and some old family details that I didn't have previously. I've been able to share some immigrant information and details about the American cousins. It's been fun and enlightening and thoroughly wonderful. Some of the UK relatives had no idea they even had American cousins. We had no idea what had become of the UK clan. The best part of this whole thing continues to be the sharing and reconnecting with long lost family. I have lots of information to sift through and put into context. There are lots of name and dates to add to the tree. And now I have some faces to put with those names. Who would have thought? 

Crossing the Pond

I bit the bullet and subscribed to the World Delux membership at Ancestry.com for one month. In the first few minutes of active membership I found a host of information and quickly zeroed in on my maternal Great Grandfather, William H. Johnstone. Months ago, I received a scap of paper with the names of William's siblings on it. Using those names and the names of his parents I was able to find William and his family on both the 1891 and the 1901 England Census. The information gathered here is phenomenal.
                                            1891:

Name:                              Willie Johnstone
Age:                                   6
Estimated birth year:       abt 1885
Relation:                           Son
Father's name:                 William Johnstone
Gender:                            Male
Where born:                     Stanley, Westport, Lancashire, England
Civil Parish:                     West Derby
Ecclesiastical parish:       Stanley St. Ann
County/Island:                  Lancashire
Country:                           England
Registration district:       West Derby
Sub-registration district: West Derby (Rural)
1901 Name:  William Johnstone Age: 16 Estimated birth year: abt 1885 Relation: Son Father's name: William Johnstone Mother's name: Elizabeth Johnstone Gender: Male Where born: Liverpool, Lancashire, England Civil Parish: West Derby Ecclesiastical parish: Stanley St Anne County/Island: Lancashire Country: England Registration district: West Derby Sub-registration district: West Derby, Eastern

Of course this same information was available for all members of the family, so I found place of birth and
approx. years of birth for the parents and siblings too. It helps to put everyone in their proper context within the family unit. I did notice a difference in place of birth info on these two censuses. In 1891 William's place of birth is listed as Stanley, Westport, Lancashire, England. In 1901 it is given as Liverpool, Lancashire, England. This tells me that I need to research a gazeteer for that place during those years. Perhaps the place name changed. 


 I can see from the actual census document that they lived at the same address all that time. This tells me that I should look in that place for other records as well. 


This was time and money well spent. Hopefully the remainder of my one month membership will be as fruitful.

Wedding Wednesday....Edward and Marie Marxer

Edward and Marie were my paternal grandparents. They were married on 24 Feb. 1936 at St. Ann's Cathedral in Great Falls MT. It was a small family wedding. The bride's maid was Louise Marxer, Edward's sister, and the best man was Mike Reddish. The wedding day was cold and the snow deep. The bride's bouquet of roses was frostbitten in the cold. The wedding party headed out to the ranch in the early afternoon. The car made it as far as Eden than needed to be towed by a team of horses the rest of the way. When they arrived at the house the whole community was there to greet the new bride. They played games, told round stories and tall tales and sang songs. Later they rolled the carpet up and pushed the furniture out of the way for an impromptu dance in the living room. They partied until the wee hours of the morning.

This story was told by Edward and Marie in the county history "A Century In The Foothills 1876-1976"

page 319

.

Research the Collateral Lines

Collateral Ancestor

Definition: An ancestor not in the direct line of ascent, but of the same ancestral family.

I've been having a bit of trouble with my maternal great grandmother, Johanna "Jennie" (Felt) Borgreen.

I can't seem to find her parents' names. I ordered her death certificate and came up empty. As I was searching the 1900 census, I found Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Borgreen living in Belt MT with their small children. I scanned up and down the page and was very surprised to find a listing for Andrew Felt and family living right next door to them. I noticed that some of Andrew's children had been born in WY. I knew that Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Borgreen had lived in Rock Springs WY and the census showed that a few of their children had been born there. I also noticed that Andrew immigrated to the US, from Sweden, one year before Great Grandma. It became almost obvious to me that they may be related and their close age made me think that perhaps they were siblings. I thought that maybe Andrew would have some of the answers I was not able to get from Great Grandma. So I began to track Andrew and family through time. Below is a timeline for Andrew and his family and my sad version of source citations. I have all sources clearly sited in my records but I'll spare you the details here. 

I have yet to find evidence of Andrew's death. I do know that he was living in 1920, so can narrow my search a bit with that information. My goal is to find the place of death and order his death certificate. Hopefully there will be something of use there. I'll also do some city directory searches and newspaper research. I found a land patent for Andrew and maybe that will help me track him a bit farther. Heritage quest, which I use for census research, doesn't have the 1930 census up yet. I know that Ancestry.com does but am not ready to subscribe again, just yet. Maybe after the holiday bills are paid, I'll renew my subscription for a couple of months. I'd like to see if any of the Felts are listed on the 1930 census. But I can wait a little bit for that.

Timeline for Andrew Felt

1874 Andrew Felt born in Sweden¹

Married: ¹

1887 Son Axel born in Sweden¹

1889 Married in Sweden to Celia ¹   Selma (Paulson) ⁶ⁱ  Thelma (Paulson) ⁶ⁱⁱ

1890 Immigrated to US¹

1889¹ (1890) ⁶ⁱ  Son Victor born in Rock Springs⁶ⁱⁱ WY¹      

1893 Son Elmer born in WY¹

1895 Daughter Agnes born in WY¹

1899 Son Andrew born in MT¹

1900 Family is living next door to Gust and Jennie Borgreen in Belt MT¹

1902 Daughter Mary was born in Cascade County MT²

1907 Andrew received a land patent in Cascade County⁴

1910 Family is living in Cascade County MT²

1910 Andrew and Victor are working in a coal mine²

1910 Census lists Axel as a cripple²

1911: 26 Jan 1911 Victor married Maggie Defoe (sic) in Belt MT⁶ⁱ

1913 Victor and Maggie are living in Wisconsin³

1913: Son, Charles, born to Victor and Maggie.³

1915 Victor and Maggie are living in Wisconsin³

1915: Daughter, Selma, born to Victor and Maggie.³

1918: 23 Nov 1918 Axle died ^& buried at Pleasant View Cemetery Belt MT⁵

^{Between 1920 and 1925 Victor divorced Maggie3, 6ii}

1920 Andrew Felt family living in Cascade County MT³

1920 Living at home Andrew, Selma, Elmer, Mary³

1920 Andrew is a farmer³

1920 Elmer is a farm laborer³

1920 Victor is living in Anoka County, Minnesota with wife

         Maggie and her parents³

1925: 17 Dec 1925 Victor married Elizabeth Bann in Great Falls MT⁶ⁱⁱ

1957: 4 Feb 1957 Victor died and is buried at Manchester Cemetery⁵

¹1900 Census

²1910 Census

³1920 Census

⁴Land Patent

⁵ cemetery listing

⁶ⁱMontana marriage index ref# 4716

⁶ⁱⁱMontana marriage index ref# cn12609

Alternate surname spellings:

Felt¹

Felts²

Feldt³

My Favorite Spot

This is my spot at the local public library. I spend as much time there as possible looking at microfilm and utilizing all the other resources available to me in the Heritage Room. I order my microfilm from the interlibrary loan program and wait, like a kid at Christmas, for the email to come to my inbox. "Your item is ready for pick up". Then I rush down to the library at the first opportunity and while away the hours searching and researching to my heart's content.

Today I spent a few hours looking through the Great Falls Tribune from June 1932. I was actually looking for a death notice for my maternal great-great grandma, but came up empty on that. Instead and unexpectedly, I found a notice that my paternal great grandpa had been released from the hospital on 15 June 1932. I have his death certificate that states 3 Sep. 1932 as his date of death. He had cancer. I hadn't expected to find him in the paper but was happy that I was able to walk away with something of interest to add to my files.

I've ordered more film from the State Library for the death dates of each of my great grandparents. Now I just wait for my notice to come. Merry Christmas to me.

Oral History....or our family's version of the truth

The most important thing I've learned through this research project is don't get too attached to the details. Some things just roll off the tongue. Great Grandma Johnstone, who was born Mary Alice Coleman and came from County Cork Ireland. That must be so, right? Except her death certificate lists place of birth as Bristol England. But that might not be so either. It is her death certificate. A secondary source with information provided long after the time of her birth and by someone who was likely not present at her birth.
Perhaps the family story was really referring to her mother, Mary Coleman. Mary's death certificate says that she was born in Ireland. But the town, Carrick-on-Suir, is in County Waterford. I looked at a current map and believe that Waterford and Cork are neighbors. I need to check an historical map from that time to see if county lines have changed. Perhaps Carrick-on-Suir WAS in County Cork. Maybe there is a grain of truth to the family lore, afterall.

So who do you believe? Well, I believe no one. If/when I find her actual birth certificate or a church record of her baptismal, than I'll believe (a little bit) the information provided. In the mean time I take the clues that I find and search for the primary source. Some people might find this frustrating, but to me it's almos the most fun part of the journey. I feel like I'm channeling my inner Sam Spade here. There's one thing that is for certain. I'll never run out of things to look for.