Dutch Treat

My ninth great grandfather was Roeloff Swartwout.  He was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands in 1634.  Roeloff traveled to New Amsterdam in 1652 and was involved in the history and the development of the present day state of New York. In 1660, he was appointed and temporarily served as the shout (sheriff) of the settlement of Esopus and later was recorded as justice of the peace of Ulster.  Roeloff  was involved in the second Esopus War and was also instrumental in founding the Dutch Reformed Church in Kingston.  By 1708 Roeloff settled down and purchased land in what is now known as Albany and Ulster counties.  Roeloff Swartwout died in 1715 in Hurley, New York.

A few months ago I was able to visit Amsterdam and I was humbled and overwhelmed by the simplicity and splendor of the Oude-Kerk where Roeloff, my ninth great grandfather, was baptized on June 1, 1634.

The Oude-Kerk was founded around 1213 in Amsterdam, Netherlands and is Amsterdam's oldest parish church.

Oude-Kerk, Amsterdam

The beautiful floor is made up of the gravestones of those buried beneath the church.
The graceful arched roof is wooden.

Moin!

Moin is the Ostfriesland word for Hello. I recently traveled to Ostfriesland, Germany, the homeland of my mother's maternal ancestors.

Ostfriesland is located in the northwestern part of Germany.  It lies along the North Sea coast and is bordered on the west by the Netherlands.

Norden and the North Sea

The Friesian's were people of the sea; fishing was their livelihood and they lived with the constant fear of catastrophic flooding from the North Sea and the river Ems.  They reclaimed land at low tides and built farmland.  They built dikes to control the waters and to help to prevent flooding. The land was fertile but soggy.  They had to dig canals and waterways to carry the water back to the sea.

There is a church on the highest ground in the every village, also a safe haven for the people during flooding.  Many of the churches were originally Catholic churches but after the Reformation they became Lutheran or Lutheran Reformed.

Backemoor

Windmills can be seen throughout Ostfriesland.

Nendorf

 The buildings and homes are built of characteristic red brick and red tiled roofs for shelter from the weather and floods.

Neuburg

It was a harsh life for our ancestors, but they were strong, determined and hard workers.  Their religion sustained them and they were persistent to survive.

Guardianship

I don't know much about my 3rd great-grandfather, Isaac Joseph Ogle, the son of Revolutionary War hero Rev. Benjamin Ogle and his wife Jane Garrison.  Isaac was born in the county of St. Clair in the Northwest Territory¹ about 1793.  Illinois didn't become a state until December 3, 1818.  Isaac was married to Priscilla Badgley and died in 1841 in Belleville, St. Clair Co., Illinois.

It seems that by 1845 the children of Isaac and Priscilla Ogle required a guardian.

According to the Illinois Revised Statutes in 1845, "Courts of probate in their respective counties, shall admit orphan minors, above the age of fourteen years, the father being dead, to make a choice of guardians, and appoint guardians for such as are under the age of fourteen years." ²

A guardian was appointed by the courts to supervise Isaac's five minor children,  Benjamin, Lucy, Abraham B, William, and Isaac Ogle.³

William Porter was appointed guardian of the five children on 15 Mar 1845

A sixth child, Samuel Kinney Ogle, my 2nd great-grandfather, was over the age of 14 so he was able to "choose" his guardian. Samuel chose William Porter on 14 Mar 1846.⁴

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¹ "Blue Book of the State of Illinois, complied and published by James A. Rose, Secretary of State, Springfield, Illinois 1905.  Illinois State Journal Co., State Printers, 1906. Referencing "Territorial Records of the Northwest Territory, St. Clair Papers, Volume 2, page 165.  St. Clair County was one of the earliest Illinois counties formed while still in the Northwest Territory.

² Revised Statutes State of Illinois, held in the Years, A.D., 1844-'5, prepared by M. Brayman. William Walters, printer 1845, Chapter XLVII. Guardian and Ward, p 265.

³ "Illinois Letters of Guardianship 1836-1849, Book B #128. March 15, 1845.  Film held at the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD), Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois.

⁴ Illinois Letters of Guardianship 1836-1849, Book B #161. March 14, 1846.  Film held at the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD), Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois.

Timing is Everything!

My paternal grandfather, Warren Davis Wood, was a railroad man.  He was an engineer on the Santa Fe Coast Lines Railroad.  I had been trying to research RR information on him for a few years with no luck.  All I knew was that Warren was enumerated in the 1910 census as living in Thayer, Missouri as a married 28 year old with the occupation of a Locomotive Fireman¹ and I also had this picture.

 Warren D. Wood (center)

My breakthrough came when a cousin of mine mentioned that she had a box of memorabilia and asked if I would be interested in it.  She was able to share with me some of the records I had been searching for for so long.  What timing!  As genealogists, we know that sometimes treasures can be found if you wait long enough.

This Locomotive Firemen traveling card is dated Dec. 31, 1904 and references a Lodge and the Frisco System.  It states that he was employed as a fireman for 2 years and three months and was a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen's union for 1 year and 7 months.

I also found that on June 11,1920 he became certified as a Locomotive Engineer on the Santa Fe Coast Lines.

  

But the cards that I treasure most are the Engineer watch certifications from 1935 and 1936.   The pink card is a record of the watch cleaning, explaining that watches must be cleaned within 15 months of exact date last cleaned.  The blue card details testing the watch for accuracy every 15 days noting in seconds if it ran fast or slow.

Yes, Timing is Everything!
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¹ "United States Census, 1910"  Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. W.D. Wood household,Year: 1910; Census Place: Thayer, Oregon, Missouri; Roll: T624_804; Page: 16A; Enumeration District: 130; Image: 329

   

Moses Bickford's Masonic Life

My 2nd great-grandfather, Moses Bickford, was born in 1796 in Starks, Lincoln Co., Maine.  Moses left Maine around 1817 and headed west.  He married Ruth Green in Columbia, Ohio on May 2, 1819.  Moses and Ruth continued west, and after living in Sangamon Co., Illinois for a few years, they moved on to Iowa in 1838.  Moses was a farmer and a shoemaker. They raised 14 surviving children.

Membership in the Masonic organization was a very important part of his life.  Moses first became a Mason at about 25 years of age when he joined the order of Nova Caesarea Harmony Lodge in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1824. This lodge is still active today.  After immigrating to Iowa in 1838, Moses, along with Rev. James Shephard of Keosauqua, was influential in organizing a lodge in Keosauqua and became a charter member.  He was also a charter member of Winchester and Birmingham Lodges.¹

The first Masonic lodge in the territory of Iowa was established in 1840 under the authority from the Grand Lodge of Missouri.²  Moses was a representative in the first Grand Lodge of Iowa. The Birmingham Lodge No. 56 was chartered on June 6th, 1855 and Moses Bickford was a Past Master from 1855 to 1856.³

At his death on December 4, 1887, at the age of 91, Moses had been a Mason for 63 years, 8 months and 17 days. At that time, he was the oldest Mason in Iowa.¹  

Maple Hill Cemetery, Birmingham, Van Buren Co., Iowa.

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¹ Public dedication by the Hall of Birmingham Lodge, No. 56, A.F. & A.M.Birmingham, Iowa.     Submitted to the Enterprise newspaper for publication.

² History of Grand Lodge of Iowa A.F. and A. M., vol 1, Joseph E. Morcombe, Historian.  Published by Authority of the Grand Lodge of Iowa 1910, page 168.

³ Annuals of the Grand Lodge of Iowa,  Vol 2,  page 556.  Muscatine. Printed by order of the Grand Lodge, 1858.  

The Immigrant Press

If your ancestor's family immigrated from another country, it is important to see if a newspaper was published in their native language in their new area.  Many times important information may not even be published in the English newspaper but you will find it printed in the paper of their language.

This is the case of my great-great aunt Louisa Roos Theobald, wife of Louis Theobald.  Louisa's parents immigrated from Germany to Illinois and were married in Millstadt, Illinois in 1850.  All of their children were born and raised in Millstadt.

I found an article in the Belleville Weekly Advocate newspaper dated Aug. 14, 1891 stating that "Mrs. Louis Theobald, nee Roos, is lying at the point of death at the residence of her mother.  She was brought home from her sister's in Missouri about a week ago suffering with typhoid malaria fever and has been growing worse ever since." I was unable to able to find an obituary for Louisa in later editions.

However, Louisa's obituary was actually published on Aug. 20, 1891 in the German newspaper, The Belleville Post, in Belleville, St. Clair Co., Illinois.¹ 

Transcription:
Last Wednesday Louise Theobald, nee Roos, died after just a short illness of typhus at the age of 29 years, 2 months and 21 days.  She left behind an elderly mother, as well as some siblings.   She was interred to her last rest under great sanctification at Millstadt Cemetery by Pastor Buchmiller.  May the earth be light upon her!


Louisa died in 1891 at the home of her mother, Carolina Wagner Roos, my 2nd great grandmother.

 

Luisa Roos

   Born May 1864

Died Aug 13, 1891 

Theobald 

Centreville Cemetery, Millstadt, Illinois

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¹ "Louisa Theobald," obituary, The Belleville (Illinois) Post, 20 Aug 1891, p5.  Microfilm on file at Belleville Public Library,  Belleville, St. Clair County, Illinois.