CLEANING OUT AN ATTIC ~ What did I find?

 

What happens when we clean out those closets, drawers and attics?

If we are genealogists, we may come across some family artifacts.  Perhaps we stored them and forgot, or maybe a spouse or other family member put them away?  Whatever the case may be, finding long lost or unknown treasures sure makes me do the happy dance.

As I wrote recently, my husband, Ron and I just made a big move from California to Montana.  In doing so, we were cleaning out the attic (and oh my what a job that was). 

Ron comes across an old suitcase that he says is very heavy.  He hollers down to me (I’m at the bottom of the attic stairs) “what in the world do you have in this old suitcase?”  He carefully hands it down to me.  He’s correct, it’s quite heavy.  I don’t recognize the suitcase at all.  It was one that would be from the 1950s or  1960s. 

Here's an example of the old suitcase, only it was green instead of blue.

Drum role………………………….

I opened the suitcase and found items belonging to Ron’s Mom, her mother and very likely her German grandparents. Ron must have placed this in the attic and forgot about it these past many years. 

My regret is not taking photos of it as I opened it.  I was so much into packing mode that I just moved the items to another suitcase and moved on.  But, here is a list of some of the items I found:

·       Both of the military flags that were presented at Ron’s mother’s military funeral in 1993 and his father’s military funeral in 1966.  These should have been and will now be put in a proper frame and placed in our new home.

·       A small King James Bible that belonged to Ron’s maternal grandmother, Freada Doller Fink (1895-1981).  In it are notes written by Freada about births, deaths and other notable moments in the family.

·       Another King James Bible that was presented to my husband, Ron by his parents in Dec 1956.  Inside this Bible is the record of Ron’s baptism at All Saints’ Episcopal Church in San Diego, California.

·       An Evangelical Hymnal copyrighted 1919.

·       Last but very much not least, a small booklet, entirely in German.  

 

Enchiridion

Der

Kleine Katechismus

fur die gemeinen

Bfarrherren und Brediger

Durch

Dr. Martin Luther

St. Louis, Mo

Lutherrifder Concorbia = Berlang

Translated with the help of Google to say the following

the small catechism

for the common people

Bfarrherren and Brediger

through

Dr. Martin Luther

St. Louis, Mo.

lutherifcher concordia = overlay

There is no copyright on the German booklet and it is in poor condition. 

Did it belong to Freada Doller Fink’s parents?  They were both born in Germany. They immigrated to the U.S. in 1890, a few years prior to Freada’s birth.

Here is a photo of the Bibles and the hymnal.

Please stay tuned as I will be sharing the notes made by Ron’s grandmother Freada in the small Bible.

What other family treasures did I find during “the great packing?” You’ll find out in future posts.

If you’ve found treasures/family artifacts during a move or perhaps a cleaning out, I’d love to hear about them.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2023   Diane Gould Hall
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

 

MY BIG FIND AT THE FHL- Part 2 ~ What else was I able to turn up once I had John Doller’s original name?

John & Bertha - about 1935

If you read my blog yesterday, then you know that I made a pretty huge find (with help from library staff), while I was attending Rootstech.  You can read about it here WHAT A FIND - John Doller's real name was Johann Tolarowski - my husband's great grandfather.

In the 15+ years I’ve been researching mine and my husband’s family, I was never able to find some of the records I wanted to for John Doller and his wife, Bertha Keller. 

Now I know why!
If you enter John Doller in the search criteria on a website, you aren’t likely to come up with hits for Johann Tolarowski.
 
Once I learned John’s birth name, in German records, I was able to locate more information.

The first thing I found was his German passenger record.  He traveled from Germany to the U.S. with his wife, Bertha, son, Erwin and infant daughter, Ida.

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)
 

They traveled on the ship Columbia from Hamburg, leaving on 3 Jul 1890.
 
Here’s the index for this record.  His occupation, Maurer, means Mason.  Family lore says that one child died on the ship.  We know it wasn’t Erwin, so it had to be little Ida.  More on that in a minute.

Name:	John Talarowski
Gender:	männlich (Male)
Departure Age:	32
Occupation:	Maurer
Birth Date:	abt 1858
Residence:	Dahlwin, Westpreußen
Departure Date:	3 Jul 1890
Port of Departure:	Hamburg
Port of Arrival:	New York (New York City (All Boroughs))
Ship Name:	Columbia
Captain:	Vogelgesang
Shipping Clerk:	Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft
Shipping line:	Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft
Ship Type:	Dampfschiff
Ship Flag:	Deutschland
Accommodation:	Zwischendeck
Volume:	373-7 I, VIII A 1 Band 068 A
Household Members:	Name Age John Talarowski 32 Bertha Talarowski 26 Erwin Talarowski 4 Ida Talarowski 8 Monate

The New York Passenger record I located has the family arriving in New York harbor on 11 Jul 1890.  There is an entry in the column title “Date and Cause of Death” across from Ida’s name.  What do the numbers 12-18 mean?



I have searched every way I can think of for information on the numbers 12-18 in the date/cause of death column for Ida.  There are ICD codes for causes of death on many death certificates, but 12-18 isn’t one of those codes.  I tried looking at the beginning of the microfilm series for any indication of what the numbers in that column could mean.  No luck.  I welcome any input from others who may have an answer.  Were they able to take baby Ida off the ship?  Is there a death record for her in the U.S.? Is she buried in New York?
 

 The next record I located for this family was the 1892 New York state census.  On 16 Feb 1892, the Talurowski family is enumerated in the second district, Buffalo, Erie, New York.  This was the first U.S. record I located with the family still using the name Talurowski.  This is 19 months after their arrival and Ida is not named with them.  Further indication of her death.

John Talurowski, male, age 33, born in Germany, alien, working as a Mason, Bertha Talurowski, female, age 26, born in Germany, alien, Erwin Talurowski, male, age 6, born in Germany, alien.



We can see that John had not yet applied for citizenship, nor was he using the surname, Doller.  According to the 1920 census, he was naturalized in 1902.  I had searched naturalization record listings at the FHL, but they did not have 1902.  I would really like to find this record.

I’ve mentioned time and time again, on this blog and in classes I’ve taught, that social media can be one of our greatest resources for genealogy.  Especially Facebook groups.  I belong to many of them, not only in the U.S., but for other countries as well.  I wrote a blog post about this subject back in 2014 and it still holds true today FACEBOOK – HOW IT CAN BE VERY USEFUL IN YOUR RESEARCH

I decided to ask for assistance on the Western New York Genealogical Society group, to which I’ve belonged for some time. I thought perhaps someone in the group would have some tips specifically related to obtaining naturalization records from the Buffalo area.
 
Here is my query: Posted on 10 Mar 2018 at 10:37 a.m.

ADVICE needed.
Hello everyone. I wonder if you could tell me if anyone has experience in retrieving naturalization records? I have been looking for years for the papers for a particular person in the Buffalo area. A HUGE find at the FHL was that the last name was not Doller, but Tolarowski. It would appear that he arrived and kept the name Tolarowski for a few years. I believe he may have changed it when he was naturalized. Which gives me even more reason to want the record. From census records he was naturalized in 1902. The family lived in Buffalo from 1890 until his death in 1935.
Thanks in advance for any advice.

Within minutes I began receiving responses.  I continued to check back as I wrote yesterday’s blog post.  About an hour after I first posted, I checked back only to find that one of the members had located the information I needed on Family Search.  I, of course, know about and use Family Search daily, but hadn’t had a chance to look through their records since learning of John Doller’s German name.  Not only did the member, Kasia, tell me that the record was on Family Search, she posted images of the various records she found.



Now that I have this information I should be able to request his naturalization papers.  I’ve got a volume number and a page number.  I’m doing my genie dance again!
 
After the loss of two young daughters and one son, John and Bertha did go on to have one more daughter, Freada Emma Meta Doller (my husband’s grandmother), born in Buffalo, Erie, New York on 24 Aug 1895.  Freada married Heinrich “Henry” August Fink and they had four children.  She died at the age of 85 in San Diego, California.  Her older brother, Erwin went on to marry Lena Boskat and they had 6 sons.  Erwin lived to the age of 77 and died in Buffalo, New York.

John and Bertha continued living in Buffalo until their deaths.  John died 15 Dec 1935 and is buried in Buffalo Cemetery, Cheektowaga, Erie, New York.  You may visit his memorial here #80147013 and Bertha died 6 Oct 1950 and is buried in the same cemetery #80147168.

This has been a great story to write and I hope to learn more if and when I locate John’s naturalization papers.

Please contact me if you are related to this family, I’d love to hear from you.
 
To read more about the Doller family please see the following blog posts.  There are several more photos included in these posts.

ANALYZING EVIDENCE - JOHN DOLLER & BERTHA KELLER–WHO WERE THEY?

SEPIA SATURDAY ~ The Doller Family of Buffalo, New York, early 1900’s

AMANUENSIS MONDAY – BIRTH RECORDS - WHAT INFORMATION DO THEY REVEAL?

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2018   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

WHAT A FIND ~ JOHN DOLLER’S REAL NAME WAS JOHANN TOLAROWSKI–My husband’s great grandfather

During my trip to Rootstech this year, I allowed a few days for research at the Family History Library (FHL).  Read about my preparation for my trip and all the fun I had in these two posts:

Rootstech Preparation - My First Time Attending and Rootstech is Over but We Had Fun

If you’ve been to the FHL you know that not every day will be a bonanza of finds (although we’d like that to be the case).  I’ve been fortunate to have been there 3 times now and my luck has varied from day to day. 

On Saturday afternoon, my friend Pam and I had done all we could at the Rootstech conference and decided to spend the last couple of hours of the day at the FHL.  We were on the 3rd floor (books) and I wasn’t having much luck with my ancestors, so, on a whim, I decided to go down to one of the International floors of the building.  I’d had some good luck with German records on a visit in 2015.  Why not try again?  So down to B1 I went.

I asked one of the volunteers if there was anyone available to help with German records.  I was directed to Elder Kirk. 

My question – Is it possible, with very little information to find any records for John Doller and his wife Bertha Keller?  These are my husband’s great grandparents.  I knew they’d immigrated from Germany to New York about 1890. 

Here’s what I had: 

John Doller born 25 Dec 1859 possibly in Dansig, Germany, immigrated about 1890, died 15 Dec 1935 in Buffalo, Erie, New York.  He married about 1884 in Germany, Bertha Keller, born 28 Jun 1865 in Berlin, Germany, died 6 Oct 1950 in Buffalo, Erie, New York.  I had 3 unknown children born to this couple, based on how many children were listed for Bertha in the 1900 census.  I had two known children, Irven/Erwin born 1885 in Germany and Freada born 1895 in New York.  Not much to go on.  I had no idea if the locations in Germany were correct or not.

Elder Kirk first asks if I knew the religion of this couple.  Were they Catholic or Protestant?  I said I didn’t think they were Catholic (based on the church attendance of descendants).  He begins pulling up sites on the internet that I had no knowledge existed.  My experience in German research is very limited.  Elder Kirk first tells me that the name Doller probably was the Americanized version of the surname.  We weren’t having any luck with John’s name so we switched to Bertha Keller, which Elder Kirk thought was a name that would not have changed. 

NOTE:  It was 4:30 and the FHL closes at 5 on Saturday.  We kept hearing the announcement over the loud speaker “the library will close in 30 minutes, the library will close in 15 minutes.”  So, both Elder Kirk and I knew our time was short and that on Sunday, the next day, the library is closed.

He told me that the area called Danzig was Eastern Pomerania formerly part of West Prussia and located along the Baltic Sea.  Here is a link to more about the area The Polish Corridor.  And here is a map.

Now Elder Kirk took me to the PTG Pomorskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne (Pomeranian Genealogical Association) website.  Searching this site for Bertha Keller LOOK WHAT CAME UP!!!!

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)

Remember those 3 unknown children that I said I had for Bertha Keller?  They would have been born between 1884 and their 1890 departure to America.  Their names were listed as Unknown 1,2 & 3 in my Legacy database.  Here they are!  Elder Kirk said that Tallarowski would easily have been John/Johann’s actual surname.  That when pronounced the first part of the name is very similar to Doller. 

The children are:

Laura Ida born in 1886 in Sobowidz

Otto Johannes born in 1888 in Sobowidz

Ida Bertha born in 1889 in Sobowidz

Next we went to another website that told us about Sobowidz/Sobbowitz.  Here’s the screenshot I took of that.  I only brought my iPad down to level B1 when I went so I was happy to be able to photograph these websites.

Time was running short for us so Elder Kirk pulled up the list of microfilms for the parish records, in hope we could locate both the births/baptisms of the children and the marriage of Johann and Bertha.

TAUFEN is a German word for Baptism and HEIRATEN is a German word for Marriage. We were off to pull film numbers 245765 and 245767. Wish us luck, the clock was ticking and the library would soon be closing.  Elder Kirk was so kind.  He said, you take one film and I’ll take the other.  We set up the film on adjoining microfilm readers and off we went.

It didn’t take long.  He had the film with the baptisms and was able to quickly locate records for all 3 children, Laura, Otto and Ida.  I had the marriage film and with some help from Elder Kirk we located the marriage record for Johann and Bertha.  THESE WERE SUCH HUGE FINDS!  The records were all in German.  I asked Elder Kirk what a particular word was, listed on the marriage record and low and behold, it translated to Mason.  If I wasn’t certain before this, that was the point where I wanted to hug Elder Kirk.  John Doller had been a Mason in every record I found for him in the US records. 

With 5 minutes to go until the library closed, I had to take pictures of the microfilm finds as quickly as I could.  I would normally have taken a picture of the beginning of the film, the number etc.  But, I can always do that on my next trip.

Here’s an image of the marriage record for Johann Tolarowski (spelled many different ways in various records) and Bertha Keller on 7 Sep 1884.

The baptism and death record for Laura Ida.

The baptism and death record for Otto Johannes.

The baptism Ida Bertha.  There is no death date because she died either on the ship or in New York.

This is what I like to see on an Family View in Legacy.  Filled in information.  At this point we are missing or only have partial names of Johann and Bertha’s parents, but I’m hoping I can locate them.

The discovery of John’s German name has lead to me finding more information about this family.  I need to stop writing before this gets too much longer.  Don’t stay away, more on this story coming very soon.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

SEPIA SATURDAY ~ The Doller Family of Buffalo, New York, early 1900’s

I’ve always loved this photo that was found among my mother-in-law, Dorothy’s many pictures.  According to a piece of paper attached to the back of the photo this is Dorothy Fink’s Uncle, mother and grandmother and two unidentified men.

Here is the actual note from the back of the photo.  I believe (cousin Tammy, correct me if I’m wrong), this is Dorothy’s writing.  I don’t think the writing belongs to Dorothy’s sister, Delphine.

In this photo, left to right are: Irven Dollar, Sr., Bertha Keller Dollar, Freada Doller Fink and two unknowns

Irven J. Doller, Sr. born 2 Sep 1885 in Germany, died 22 Jan 1963 in Buffalo, Erie, New York.  Married Lena M. Boskat and had 6 sons, four of whom served in World War II. 

Bertha A. Keller, born 28 Jun 1865 in Berlin, Germany, died 6 Oct 1950 in Buffalo, Erie, New York.  Married John Doller about 1884 in Germany.  It’s believed the couple had four children born in Germany, but only Irven survived. Their daughter, Freada was born in Buffalo.

Freada Emma Meta Doller, born 24 Aug 1895 in Buffalo, Erie, New York, died 1 Mar 1981 in San Diego, San Diego Co., California.  She married Heinrich “Henry” August Fink  8 Oct 1911 in Fort Erie, Welland, Ontario, Canada.  They had two sons and two daughters.

The note says that this photo was taken in a bar on Genesee St., owned by “my grandparents.”  That would mean the bar was owned by John Doller and his wife, Bertha.  I’ve checked city directories to try and locate this bar and have not yet had any luck.  The directories I do find coincide with other records I have for John Doller, listing his occupation as Mason, or Stonemason. 

I do find references to John Doller and his wife living at 1728 Genesee Street in Buffalo in the 1920 federal census, the 1923 Buffalo city directory, 1925 New York state census, 1930 census and the 1933 Buffalo city directory. 

Here’s the photo in black & white, perhaps it’s more clear?

If you can provide any additional information about this photo, the bar on Genesee or the identification of the two unknown men, please contact me.

I’ve written other posts about the Doller family and you may access them with these links:

Analyzing Evidence - John Doller & Bertha Keller - Who Were They?

Amaneunsis Monday - Birth Records featuring Mita Freda Doller

Sunday's Obituary - Irven J. Doller, Sr. 1885-1963

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2017 Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION