Surnames – Page 3 of 15 – Up In The Tree

July 10, 2017

Serendipity While Traveling

Last month my family had the opportunity to travel to Finland. It was part work for my husband and part vacation travel. Our adventure started when we met up with my husband’s parents, J and S, who had been on their own vacation. Our travel plans included arriving in a few days in the Åland Islands on our way to Finland.

J was very excited to be going to Finland. His great-grandparents, Wendla Båtmäster and Charles Oscar Mattson, had immigrated to the United States from Finland.

Although Wendla and Charles came from towns only 13 kilometers apart from each other, all family oral histories say they met in San Francisco through the Star of Finland Relief Society.

Grandma Shirley, J’s mom, did an excellent job of documenting her family in the 1980’s and 1990’s. I am so thankful to have digital copies of her research! While she had information regarding family in Finland for Wendla, there is really no further information for Charles. Part of this is due to the fact he died the young age of 33. His obituary states he left behind (besides his immediate family) a brother, Matt Mattson, and a sister, Mrs. Lena Carlson. Grandma Shirley had also found out Charles was from the town of Malax, Finland.

Basic searches for Charles did not have any positive results before our trip. I have to admit, I was not very thorough with my research due to the crazy that was the end of the school year.

Back to our trip. The Åland Islands were included in our trip because Grandpa John (J’s dad) had such fond memories from the trip he and Grandma Shirley had taken 40 years ago. We arrived early in the morning after an overnight ferry from Stockholm. The morning was spent enjoying Mariehamn, the capital of the Åland Islands. We then made our way to the summer cottage my husband had found for us to stay at. It was gorgeous!

Every afternoon was spent enjoying the front porch. The wifi made it one of the best offices my husband has ever used. I spent some of the porch time on my tablet trying to find more information about Charles Mattson and his family.

Then it happens. I get a hit for Lena Carlson at Ancestry.com. And not just a little hit. A big, bright shiny moment of search success.

It turns out Lena Carlson was just one of variations of names for Charles’ sister. And I was lucky enough to have most of them listed on the Petition for Naturalization I found.

No wonder why I was having difficulty finding her! I have found Lena under every possible variation of the above name plus the additional variations using her husband’s last name, Victor. More proof the family was from Malax, Finland but again no names for Charles’ parents.

So what is the serendipitous moment? About half way down the Petition for Naturalization are questions about Lena’s husband Victor. Guess where he was born? Mariehamn, Åland Islands, Finland. You will notice Åland is spelled with an “O.” This is not surprising at all since Å with a ring above it is pronounced as “oh”.

Seriously, how crazy that I had traveled a little more than 5,300 miles to find a document online that says Lena’s husband was born only 10 miles from where I sat on the porch with the most incredible view?!

May 14, 2017

Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day! A few years ago I wrote a post about my direct maternal line. There are many mothers in my family tree and I would like to thank each one for making my being here possible! I want to revisit some of these incredible women today since I have verified a couple more generations. Including myself, I can illustrate 9 generations of women in my direct maternal lineage.

**Mom** at her High School Graduation, mother of 2 children.

**Roberta Mitchell** 1931-2014, mother of 5 children.

**Opal Strickler** 1891-1970, mother of 5 children.

**Effie Flock** 1866-1939, mother of 4 children.

**Amner Caroline Ramsey** 1840-1933, mother of 12 children.

Jane Berry (1803-1870), mother of 10 children.

Margaret McSpadden (1780-1863), mother of 12 children.

Sarah Jane Whitesides (1754-1826), mother of at least 6 children.

I do not have photos of Jane, Margaret, or Sarah Jane. While the earliest photo was taken in 1826 or 1827, camera photography was not common until the 1880’s.

May 1, 2017

Maybe, No, Maybe

I have identified a passport application for my husband’s great-great-grandfather, John Pope. The passport identifies the date John Pope was naturalized in San Francisco, California. I am currently on a quest to see if I can obtain a copy of the original naturalization paperwork or certificate. You can read about my progress in my last post – Yes, No, Maybe…

Last week, I drove into San Francisco to continue my research at City Hall. My first stop was actually across the street at the Superior Court of San Francisco. While I know the original was destroyed in the fire following the 1906 Earthquake, I also know that many people refiled their naturalization paperwork as “restored” records. MAYBE.

A search done by the records clerk showed my John Pope did not file a restored naturalization. While I was there, I went ahead and ordered copies of his probate packet and one for his son, John Rudolph Pope. These are kept offsite and will be available for viewing next week. The clerk in the records room were incredibly helpful and knowledgeable.

Next I walked across the street to City Hall. My first stop was the Recorder/Assessor’s office. While they do not hold naturalization paperwork, I have found in the past the clerk’s in this office are the most knowledgeable in the building about who holds what and where. I also cross checked the book/page number with them for the clue I found from John’s grandma Shirley. Then note indicated a copy of the naturalization had been filed with the Registrar of Voters. They did not have the said book/[age combination but pointed me downstairs to the Office of Elections.

The person in the office of elections was a more recent addition to the office. He was kind enough to go ask others in the office to see if the book and page from the clue were kept in their office. He returned to inform me that those records were old enough that they did not have them anymore. NO.

I came home with a mixed bag of outcomes. I am happy to get to see the probate files next week but I was totally bummed my initial MAYBE had not worked out. I decided to keep at my exhaustive search for available records. It was time to do some research into where else a copy of the naturalization paperwork or certificate would need to be filed to meet a requirement for something else.

This led me back to the Passport Application I found online. The application states:

I was naturalized as a citizen of the United States before the Superior Court of the State of Calif at San Francisco on the 30th day of March, 1904, as shown by the accompanying Certificate of Naturalization; that I am the identical person described in the said Certificate….

The digital copy of the Passport Application is just that – a copy. It need to get my hands on the original. I have made inquiries to the National Archives in Washington, DC where the passport applications are held. They informed me there are passport applications that do have additional paperwork attached. The new plan is to add a research trip to NARA while visiting my parents in Virginia this summer. So I am back to MAYBE.

April 18, 2017

Yes, No, Maybe…

Genealogy research moves at a slow steady pace most of the time. Sometimes research can move in leaps and bounds and then come to a screeching halt. In those cases, I hope you were wearing your seat belt! The whiplash of excitement and frustration can leave you dazed.

Today is the perfect day to tell you what I have learned in the last week. It was more of a seatbelt kind of week. It all started with DNA test results. All three DNA tests I ordered with the New Year’s sale had results posted last Monday, April 10th. For each account, I quickly logged in to view matches and estimated origins. I also created a gedcom file for each person to upload to their family tree.

I decided to take a quick look in Family Search and Ancestry.com before uploading the gedcom files to ensure I had the most complete tree possible for DNA matches to view. The first search was for the DNA profile for my husband’s grandfather. The family tree I have for him is on the limited on the paternal side. Grandpa John’s grandfather was the entryway ancestor on this line. John Pope (Poppe) arrived in the United States from Germany in the early 1880’s. By the late 1880’s he is living in San Francisco and owns a brewery with his partners.

To my surprise, there was a new hint for John Pope (1862-1917) at Ancestry.com. It turns into a jackpot moment! The hint contains a passport application from 1909.

The passport application confirms John Pope was born 3 April 1862 in Sandbostel, Germany. It also gives us new information that he immigrated to the United States about the 10th of April 1881 aboard the SS Salir from Bremen. The application also states John Pope had been living in San Francisco since 1889. The biggest jackpot was John Pope listed he had become a naturalized citizen in the Superior Court of San Francisco on 30 March 1904. YES!

After my celebration dance at the dining room table, I took the time to analyze each piece of information. This is when my YES turned into a NO. It also ties into why today is a good day to tell this story. Today, April 18th, is the 111th anniversary of the 1906 Earthquake in San Francisco. The 1906 earthquake killed approximately 3,000 people and left over 80% of the city in ruins after the fires broke out. Most genealogists who do research in this area divide their research into before and after 1906 due to the fires and the documents which were destroyed.

The naturalization papers filed in 1904 are most definitely gone.

I was still really excited to share this new document with Grandpa John this past weekend when we visited for Easter. On Saturday, my husband spent some time with his grandfather assisting him with some computer issues. While they were occupied, I took the Pope binder off the shelf to browse. Grandma Shirley was a genealogist and did an incredible amount of research in the pre-internet days. She left 3-ring binders for each family with all the research she had accomplished. About 10 years ago I scanned everything in the binders to ensure the information is not lost in case of disaster.

I realized flipping through the binder this weekend, I had not done a complete job of scanning documents. I had scanned all the certificates, newspaper clippings, photos, etc. I did not scan the handwritten notes in the pockets of the divider pages. This was a major mistake.

In the binder divider, I found this sheet:

These undated handwritten notes are in Grandma Shirley’s handwriting. They clearly state the original filing of the naturalization paperwork. They also state the papers were re-filed with the courts in San Francisco on 26 March 1908. MAYBE…

The rest of this week I already have planned but next Monday or Tuesday, I will be in San Francisco trying to get copies of the re-filed naturalization paperwork. It has been a fun ride in the last week. I am glad I had my seatbelt on. Hopefully we will continue this story by returning back to YES.

April 18, 2017

Blog Birthday Fail

OOPS!! I missed my own blogiversary this month. The bad news is the anniversary was two weeks ago. The good news is I was in Virginia talking all things family history with my Mom and her cousins when I missed the big day.

My mom’s cousins flew to Virginia for a visit. I had been in town the few days before their arrival so I stayed an extra day for some family time. We spent the day traveling to Page County, Virginia. I was able to show them the area my ancestors helped found in the mid-1700’s. The highlight was driving to the Strickler-Louderback house.

The Strickler-Louderback house is on the banks of the Shenandoah River in Page County, Virginia. My 3rd great-grandfather, David Strickler, built the brick home that stands today. The Strickler’s owned the home for many years and then sold it to the Louderback family. It was so fun to share this history with family!

Happy 6 Years to my blog!!

February 19, 2017

So This Is What They Look Like – The John B Fuller Family

Cousin Bait is defined by genealogists as putting your research online as bait for unknown cousins to find you and compare information. It works.

Late last fall I found another way for cousin bait to work. This time I was contacted by a man through Ancestry.com regarding my husband’s family. I replied to him with confirmation that my husband is a descendant of John Buchanan Fuller who passed away in 1938 in Custer, Nebraska.

Our next round of emails revealed the twist. This man was not a cousin. He had purchased items from an estate sale. Using the information on the back of a photograph, he had done a search on Ancestry.com to find someone who was researching the family. He had for sale a photograph of the John B. Fuller family together at his funeral.

After a couple of quick checks to ensure this was a legit deal, I purchased the photograph. The original photograph from 1938 arrived approximately a week later. I was thrilled to find that not only were names listed on the back of the photograph but someone had written names on the front to indicate who belonged to each name.

Fuller Family at funeral of John B Fuller, December 12, 1938.

It was time to take a look at the research I had already completed for the family. I was hoping to match up the names on the photograph to the names in my family tree. I was happy to see I had already identified the family unit mostly using census records.

John Buchanan Fuller and his wife Emma Jane Shipman had ten children. The first three did not survive childhood. My husband’s great-grandfather, Percy, was the first child to life to be an adult. He was followed by Gladys, Clara, Clarence, Roy, Irene, and Alma.

The family was based mostly around the towns of Ord and Custer, Nebraska. I also found an obituary for John B. Fuller that painted a fuller picture of the family and their life in Nebraska. You can read the obituary here.

After realizing the names on the photo matched up with the children of John, it was easy to identify the people marked as me and mom. Genevieve, Emma Opal, and Liata are all grandchildren of John B Fuller. Unfortunately, not everyone in the photo is identified. I suspect a couple of the younger people are also grandchildren of John B. Fuller.

My mother-in-law was very excited to see this photo. She did not know her grandfather, Percy. Percy and his daughter did not have a good relationship due to Percy and Lauretta Palmatier divorcing when Grandma June was young. This was the first time my husband’s family knew what their family looked like.

I have added to photo to FamilySearch so it is available for everyone. I want to make sure it will not be lost to history a second time. If you would like a digital copy of this photo without the names added in I am happy to share my tiff file!

February 15, 2017February 13, 2017

Wedding Wednesday – Giacinto Maglione and Maria Anastasia Salarano

January started with my being dragged into a genealogy black hole. Haha! Let’s be serious. It was more like I jumped in head first since I was so excited. The culprit was digitized civil records for the small town in Italy where my father’s paternal line originates. I have found over 25 birth, marriage, and death records to date. I still have more records to locate but they are taking some time since I need to scan page by page for differing date ranges.

This marriage record for Giacinto Maglione and Maria Anastasia Salarano is one of the documents I have found.

According to church records, Giacinto and Maria were married 8 June 1867. This document says that on 11 June 1867, three gentlemen presented themselves to the town hall to vouch that the wedding occurred. It further states that Giacinto Maglione, 46 was the son of the deceased Stefano Maglione and the living Maria Gianotto. All the above were born and live in Cossano. Maria Anastasia Salarano, 22, daughter of the peasant (living) Michele Salarano and the deceased Maria Bonello. All the above were born and live in Cossano.

I am very curious to know the story of Giacinto and Maria. I have found no indication that Giacinto was previously married. This is usually stated clearly in the church records. His line for previous marriage has a line through it. He is from a family who is more financially stable or has money since he is not referred to as a peasant. Also, since Maria is only able to leave a mark, while Giacinto leaves a signature, she has less education. Their children were born after the marriage occurred. I wonder what brought them together. Was it love, arranged marriage, financial deal? I will probably never know.

My favorite part of this document is the end. There is a signature from Giacinto and a mark made by Maria.

January 18, 2017

Wedding Wednesday – Charles Francis Dempsey and Josephine Amelia Gamble

Dempsey – Gamble Original Marriage Record

My grandmother still holds the original marriage record for her parents, Charles Francis Dempsey (1894-1986) and Josephine Amelia Gamble (1894-1976). I had the opportunity to digitize this document a few weeks ago at Christmas time. It blows my mind that there are original documents in our family that are almost 100 years old!

I, T.W. Rosensteel hereby certify that on the 11th day of Feb one thousand nine hundred and 20 at St. Joseph’s Charles F. Dempsey and Josephine A. Gamble were by me United in Marriage.

in accordance with license issued by the Clerk of the Orphans Court of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

Numbered 13723 Series L T.W. Rosensteel, Rector

December 29, 2016

Adding A Sibling To The Family Tree

There are many family trees posted to the big genealogy websites. My personal opinion about these trees, in relation to my own research, is they should be used a hints. I always try to contact the tree owner to see if they have any sources of their information. I am cautious about the online trees but I am also optimistic.

Towards the end of the summer, I received a hint about my grandfather’s family on My Heritage. I took a look at the family trees posted and noticed a sister named Anastasia Adele Ciardonei was part of the family structure.

My grandfather, Celio Capelli, immigrated to the United States in March 1920 at the young age of 5 after the death of his mother, Adele Siletto. Upon the ship’s arrival in New York, my great-grandfather, Matteo Ciardonei, was detained at Ellis Island after being diagnosed with tuberculosis. My grandfather’s aunt (Adele’s sister) Mary Siletto Capelli, traveled from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to pick up my grandfather from Ellis Island. Matteo was deported back to Italy and Celio became part of the Capelli family. Sadly, Matteo passed away a little over a year later in Cossano Canavese, Italy. My grandfather grew up in Pittsburgh in the home of his Aunt and Uncle, Mary and Frank Capelli, with his cousins as his siblings.

I had heard a story that Adele Siletto had passed away in childbirth. I considered this story very likely to be true. When reviewing the family trees at My Heritage, it seems I had finally might have proof of this story.

I contacted a friend on Facebook, Lily, who lives in Cossano Canavese, Italy. You can read about how we were introduced and the wonderful presents she gave to me here. I had received the church death record for Adele Siletto from Lily last year. What I did not know at the time was to ask if there were any records for this possible sister, Anastasia Adele.

I asked Lily to take another look at the church records to see if there was a birth record for Anastasia Adele Ciardonei in the same month Adele had passed away. Lily became my hero once again when she sent a digital copies of Adele’s death record and Anastasia’s birth and death records.

Adele Anastasia Antonia Ester Ciardonei was born on 12 September 1919. Her mother, Adele Siletto, passed away a few days later on 18 September 1919. Anastasia was baptized two days after her mother’s death on 20 September 1919. Sadly, she did not survive and passed away when she was 29 days old on 10 October 1919. Just 5 months later, Matteo and Celio would be on a ship steaming towards the United States.

My heart breaks for Matteo Ciardonei. In less then a year he loses his wife and newborn daughter, tries to reach a better life in America but is deported, and leaves his son with family on another continent. I am also so eternally grateful for the decision he made to leave my Grandfather with Mary and Frank Capelli.

I want to send a huge Thank You to my extended Italian family who placed Anastasia’s name on an online family tree. Without their help, I would not have been able research this important story in my family history. Every piece of the story adds up to explain how so many decisions came to be.

April 13, 2016April 3, 2016

Willis Coffey – A Probate Story

Willis Coffey is my 3rd great-grandfather. I recently found his probate papers on Ancestry.com. I am super excited about this find because the file contains 174 digital images. With this much paperwork there must be a story!

The story begins with a flurry of paperwork between 28 September 1893 and 9 October 1893. On the 28th of September a receipt was written by the manager of the Clarksdale, Missouri office of the Chicago Rock Island & Pacific Railroad for sending a telegram announcing the death of Willis Coffey.

A week and a half later, several people appeared at the county courthouse in Maysville, Missouri (the county seat). Several documents were signed and witnessed on October 9, 1893. First, the will of Willis Coffey was presented to the court. I was very disappointed to realize one page of the will was not digitized. Of course it was the page that was to lay out how part of the estate was to be divided among his heirs. The last page of the will had a sheet of paper attached that stated the will had officially been recorded in DeKalb County. This was signed by the local probate judge, W.A. Thornbaugh.

Next, W.F. Thornton appeared before the judge to swear he was present and signed as a witness on Willis Coffey’s will. He also stated that James Adams (the other witness) was now deceased and his signature was true. This was all signed to in the Proof of Will and witnessed by Judge Thornbaugh.

Another form was signed by the Probate Judge which states the will of Willis Coffey appoints W.M. Stigall as executor. This was followed by a signed Executor’s Bond for $2000 for W.M. Stigall. Also on the same form was an Oath for W.M. Stigall to sign. The oath states that the executor will truly perform his duties as executor, including a perfect inventory. Apparently W.M Stigall took this oath very seriously as most of the digital images in the Probate packet are receipts for every detail.

The last sheet in the Will papers was my favorite. It is an undated hand written notice that says: “The court instructs the jury that the only issue in this case is whether or not the paper writing offered in evidence (and hereto attached) purporting to be the last will of Willis Coffee deceased, is his last will and testament.

It is starting to get good!! My next blog post will take a look at the Will in question.