Tag: Offerman

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{Treasure} Handwritten Notes Part 1

I was lucky enough to have two years with my husband’s grandmother before she passed. Shirley (Gingg) Pope was a loving and caring woman. But don’t be fooled, she had a well of strength in her bones. We shared the love of genealogy. Shirley gets all the credit for doing her research via mail. She wrote numerous letters to people and repositories.

Shirley left a treasure trove of family history documents. After my husband’s grandfather left us to reunite with Shirley, we found even more amazing treasures. These included physical items such as fraternal order pins, military medals, and handwritten notes.

After going through so many pieces of paper research, I believe I found some of Grandma Shirley’s first handwritten notes. There are two sets. The first is one page of notes regarding Grandpa John’s ancestors. The second is 10 pages (some have notes on back) of the summary of what Shirley knew at the time. The 10 pages are on notepaper approximately 4″ wide and 6″ tall. They are held together by 2 staples.

I find it incredible to have Grandma Shirley’s handwritten notes. Her handwriting feels like a hug.

I have digitized the notes as part of my emergency preparedness push. I am including the first page in today’s post. All of the information has been added to both my personal research and online trees (FamilySearch and Ancestry). The only item that is inaccurate on this note is the father of Anna Hink. Further research completed by Shirley found Anna’s parents to be Johann Hink and Anna (Last Name Unknown).

Note* The children are listed as birth events. Elfrieda Johanna and Claus Alfred were twins.

Notes written by Shirley Pope.
Notes written by Shirley Pope.

John Pope m. Catherine Offerman

Pope side

  1. Anna Louise Pope Robinson

b  Nov 29, 1895 (?)

d  June 1961

2. John Rudolph Pope                        died 19 yrs.

Flu epidemic in S.F.

3. Elfrieda Johann Pope Fancher    Sept 19, 1901

Claus Alfred Pope                           Sept 19, 1901 – June 23, 1971

There was a baby born (the (1st one) who died early

and his name was John.

Poppe side – Sandbostal, Germany

Offerman side – Hechthausen, Germany

Catherine Offerman

Claus Henry Offerman                   Anna Hink

                                                            Adolf Hink           ?

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Treasure Chest Thursday – Catharine Offerman Pope Death Certificate

Catherine Offerman in my husband’s 2nd great grandmother.  She was born in Germany in 1865.  She immigrated to the United States in 1887 or 1888 with her husband, John Pope.  They lived at 3335 26th Street in San Francisco.  Catherine died a horrible death.  She received 2nd and 3rd degree burns on her body after gas on the floor of her home caught fire.  I am told by my husband’s grandfather, who was 5 at the time of the accident, that Catherine was cleaning the floor with the gasoline.  The house burned down and was rebuilt.  I scanned the copy of the death certificate (below) from the genealogy stash at my husband’s grandfather’s house.  I plan on visiting the San Francisco Library to see if there were any articles written in the newspaper about the fire.  Hopefully, I will be able to add more to this story at a later date.

3335 26th Street, San Francisco, CA
Left: in 1989. Right:early 1900’s before burning down.

State of California, Department of Public Health, Vital Statistics, Standard Certificate of Death # 32-005460

1. Place of Death: Dist. No 3801, City and County of San Fransisco, Franklin Hospital
2. Full Name: Catharine Pope
3. Sex: Female
4. Color or Race: White
5. Single, Married, Widowed, or Divorced: Widowed, wife of the late John Pope
6. Date of Birth: August 27, 1865
7. Age: 66 years, 4 months, 24 days
8. Occupation: At Home
9. Birthplace: Germany
10. Name of Father: C.H. Offerman
11 Birthplace of Father: Germany
12. Maiden Name of Mother: Anna Hink
13. Birthplace of Mother: Germany
14. Length of Residence: 45 years, in California 45 years
15. Informant: Per Mr C H Offerman, 547 Guerrero Street
16. Date of Death: January 21st, 1932
17. Cause of Death: Second and third degree burns of body. (One half body area) Accidental ignition of gasoline.
18. Special Information, Former Residence: 3335 26th St.
19. Place of Burial: Cypress Lawn Burial
20. Date of Burial: Jan. 23, 1932
21. Undertaker: H F Suhr Co, 2919 Mission Street

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Funeral Card Friday – Claus Alfred Pope

Claus Alfred Pope died at Sonoma Valley Hospital on 23 June 1971.  He had been sick with heart problems for the two weeks leading up to his death.  He was born 19 September 1901 in San Francisco, California to John Pope and Catherine Offerman.  He was survived by his wife, Althea (Austin) Pope, son, John A. Pope, daughter, Joyce (Pope) Hunter, and sister, Elfrieda (Pope) Fancher.