CHURCH RECORD SUNDAY ~ Susan Rosette (abt 1783–1847) –my husband’s 3rd great grandmother

Susan Boylston Rosette is my husband’s paternal 3rd great grandmother.  I don’t have a lot of information about her.  I know she was born about 1783, she married Dr. Abraham Rosette on 30 May 1804 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  They had four known children: Almira (1806-1858), Eliza (1809-1876), Francis Peter (1811-1812) and Louisa (1813 died at age 7 months).

 

Abraham, sadly, died on 8 Apr 1815 at the age of only 34 years.  This left 32 year old Susan a widow with 2 daughters, ages 6 and 9. The couple had already lost two young children.  What a very sad few years this must have been for Susan.

 

Her two daughters, Almira and Eliza lived to adulthood and married.  It is Almira from whom my husband descends.

I have no record of Susan marrying after Abraham’s death, although she lived for 32 years beyond him.

The church record I’ve show above is a register of members in the First Presbyterian Church in New Jersey.  Susan is entry 258, she was received in the church on 5 Dec 1813.  This record lists her as the “wid. of Abr” and gives his correct date of death.  There is a column on the register that says “How Rec’d”.  Susan’s entry for that column says Hope.  I wonder if that meant she was hoping to be a member and had not yet been admitted?  Under Remarks we see “1834 Nov 30 dismis.”  There is also a death date of Sept. 23, 1866, but it is scratched out.

 

I have written a previous post about Susan and Abraham, citing their burial location and pictures of their headstones.  You can read that post here TOMBSTONE TUESDAY–Abraham & Susan Rosette - died 1815 & 1847

Here are some questions that I have.

• Where was Susan born and can I locate an exact date of birth?
• What was her father’s name?
• What was her mother’s maiden name?
• Where did Susan die and what was the cause of her death?
• Am I certain that Susan never remarried?  It would have been quite difficult for her to raise two young daughters by herself. 
• Did Abraham leave her money that allowed her to survive by herself?

Thankfully, I will be at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, later this month when I attend Rootstech.  I am currently making a list of all the individuals and families for whom I have questions.  Can I find the answers there?  Time will tell.  I’ve usually been pretty fortunate when I’ve gone to the FHL and find at least some of the things I’m looking for.

If you are connected with anyone mentioned in this post, I’d love to hear from you.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2020   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

PREPARING FOR ROOTSTECH 10 ~ THE COUNTDOWN HAS BEGUN.....Here's What I'm Doing...

EXCITED!  That’s the word I’d use to describe how I’m feeling this week.  On Sunday, I am flying to Salt Lake City to attend Rootstech 10.  The conference doesn’t begin until Wednesday.  But, who can resist going a couple of days early to have time at the Family History Library?  I can’t.

This will be my 2nd time attending Rootstech.  I went two years ago.  Even more fun is that I’m being joined, as in 2018, by my friend, Pam, from Colorado.  Two very long time friends enjoying something their passionate about in a place that will be a alive with activity and fun.

I wrote a blog post before my last trip.  As I review what I did to prepare then, I must say, not much has changed.  I am two years further along in my research so there are families I’ll be looking for that I didn’t know about in 2018.

 

HERE ARE SOME SCENES FROM 2018 THAT REMIND ME OF THE FUN I'M ABOUT TO HAVE

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)  

THINGS I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO

• Meeting face to face some of the people who have been my virtual friends for several years
• Attending some of the many classes that are offered each of the four days.  It’s very difficult to choose which ones to attend.
• Walking through and experiencing all the vendors in the exhibit hall.  I’ve heard reports there will be as many as 200 of them.
• Being able to share my passion for family research with my friend of over 30 years and helping her with her research.
• Spending time at the FHL and hoping to find some of the hidden treasures and dare I hope….break down a brick wall.
• Being around others who share my love for our ancestors and making sure they are never forgotten.

WHAT I’VE DONE TO PREPARE

• I long ago made my reservation for the conference and my hotel reservation at the Plaza.  And, of course, my plane reservation.
• Over the past several months I have been making a list of the people, places and things I want to look for.  Whether it’s microfilm or books.  I keep this list in Evernote so it is with me on all my devices.
• I do all my work on my desktop PC.  Of course I’ll need to take my laptop and I’ll be taking my iPad.  I’ve made sure that everything that’s on my desktop is also on my laptop.  All the programs I use for editing, my Legacy program etc. are all synced up.
• I’ve made new “business” cards so that I can share them with the people I meet.  My genealogy is not really a business, but it’s an easy way to share websites, email and phone numbers with others.
• I’ve downloaded the Rootstech app to all my devices.
• I’ve pre selected the classes I’d like to attend.  They are first come first serve, so I also need to be sure I have a second choice for that time slot.
• I’ve washed and packed all my clothes.  I hope I’ve chosen wisely and brought enough layers.
  I’ve secured my ride to the airport.  A huge thanks to my husband for getting up so early to take me ♥
  Now…..I just wait until Sunday for my flight and let the fun begin.

I wonder how all of you prepare your lists when you are going to visit a place like the Family History Library or some other repository?

Here’s a sample of 2 of my 6 pages of “Things to look for at the FHL.”  I know some people use Excel and I have used that method in the past as well.  But, not this year.

If you will be at Rootstech this year, please look me up.  I’d love to meet you.  You can find me on the attendee list as Diane Gould Hall.

 

Happy hunting…….and Rootstech 10 – Here I Come!!

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2020   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

FRIDAY FINDS ~ At last! A naturalization record for someone in my tree–Bertha Klinoweit Redcap (1898–1934)

The index card for Bertha Redcap's naturalization record

Funny how things work sometimes.  I had lunch with a friend just last Sunday.  As we were talking, I, of course, was talking about my family tree and genealogy etc.  This friend isn’t a genealogist, but she was kind enough to listen to me.  I didn’t go on too long.  LOL!

One thing I mentioned was that in all my 17+ years of researching, I had yet to find a naturalization record for any of my ancestors. 

Given that 4 of my 8 great grandparents came here mid to late 1800’s, from Scotland and England, you’d think I would have found one already.  They did state in the 1900 census that they were naturalized.  And all of them were living in Detroit, Michigan. 

I might not have located any of their records….yet, but I have located one.  Not a blood relative, but it is a record from Detroit, so I’m happy to know they exist.

The record I have located is for my paternal granduncle’s wife’s brother’s wife.  Yes, that’s stretching it a bit.  My granduncle Roy Gould married a lady named Emma Redcap and this naturalization record is associated with that family.

Certificate of Arrival for Bertha Klinoweit, 3 Apr 1913

Bertha Klinoweit arrived in the U.S. on 3 Apr 1913, according to her Certificate of Arrival for Naturalization Purposes.  She would have been a young girl of 14 years old at the time.  This first page of the paperwork states that she arrived on the President Grant.  I’ll be looking for a passenger list with her name and will share it with you in a later post.

HERE’S THE NEXT PAGE OF THE NATURALIZATION RECORD

YOU CAN CLICK ON ANY OF THE IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

On this form we learn that she calls herself Mrs. Bertha REDCAP.  This gives her address in Detroit, her occupation and her date of birth – 22 Jul 1898.  Best of all it gives her location of birth in Germany as Sanseitschen.  This verifies her arrival in New York on 3 Apr 1913 on the U.S.S. President Grant.  This page also lists her husband, Charles, his date of birth and place and the date of their marriage as 15 Aug 1926.  Doesn't get much better than that for genealogical information.

Bertha signed the page on 10 Nov 1927 and one of the witnesses was my granduncle’s wife, Emma GOULD.  Emma also signed the form and now I have both of their signatures (click here to see the  other family signatures I've collected)

HERE IS THE LAST PAGE OF BERTHA’S NATURALIZATION PAPERS

On this page we see that Bertha declared an oath of allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and denounced the German Reich. She signed this page as well.

The court date is given as 13 Feb 1928 and her Certificate of Naturalization No. is 2728882.

I expect that Bertha was quite proud on the day she took her oath and became a U.S. citizen.

Bertha & Charles had two sons, Edward Charles, born in 1929 and Richard Robert, born 1931.

Sadly, Bertha died at the young age of 36 years, on 24 Nov 1934.  She never got to see her little boys grow up.  The cause of death was listed as Edema of brain – pulmonary thrombosis/fatty pancreas and liver.

Have you located naturalization records for any of your ancestors?  If so, I’d love to hear about them.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2020   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

ANCESTORS IN THE NEWS ~ Will a sprig of heather from South Africa bring victory to Richard Lindsay at the polls?

I will be writing a series of posts about my paternal great granduncle, Richard “Dick” Lindsay, throughout the year.  I heard a lot about him growing up, as we spent a lot of time with my grandmother, Marie W. Lindsay Gould, who was his niece.

To see my first post you can click here.

This article appeared in the Detroit Free Press on 10 Oct 1912.  It concerned by great granduncle’s run for City Clerk in Detroit.  He received an envelope containing a sprig of white heather.   White heather is considered a talisman of luck to a Scotchman.  The lucky heather had been sent, along with a note from his nephew.

HERE’S THE ARTICLE

Detroit Free Press, 10 Oct 1912, page 16

Here is my transcription

PERHAPS IT WILL BRING HIM VICTORY AT POLLS

Richard Lindsay Receives White Heather in Detroit from nephew in South Africa

Richard Lindsay, the Republican candidate for city clerk, is pretty certain that a letter he received Wednesday from Cape Town, South Africa, contained the limit in surprises.

When he opened the envelope something dropped out which Dick was surprised to find was a genuine white heather.

To the Scotchman, white heather is as great a talisman of luck as finding a horseshoe and along with the silent message it conveyed from that most unexpected corner of the world was a brief note from a nephew of Lindsay informaing him that he had just read a copy of The Detroit Free Press for which he paid 25 cents at Cape Town, informing him of the result of the August primaries in Detroit.

Did the heather bring Uncle Dick the victory? Stay tuned.

Who was the nephew in South Africa?  Seems I have research to conduct.

Stay tuned throughout the year as I continue to write about my Great Granduncle, Richard Lindsay, known to family as Uncle Dick.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

THOSE PLACES THURSDAY ~ Woodmere Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne, Michigan - the Lindsays

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2020   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

FRIDAY FINDS ~ Have I actually located the marriage record for my paternal great grandparents, William V. Gould & May E. Thorp? What do you think?

We all have them.  Those records that we “KNOW” should be easily located, but they elude us still.  We check again and again in all the places we think the record could or should be.  To no avail.

Such is the case of the marriage of my paternal great grandparents, William Val Gould and May (also known as Mary) Eve Thorp.  According to the 1900 census they had been married 19 years.  According to the 1910 census they had been married 29 years.  Doing the math on either of those puts the marriage in about 1881.

 

The first of the 6 children I have recorded for them was born in August 1884.  However, according to the 1900 and 1910 census, May was the mother of 7 children with 6 still living.  Each of those census records indicates a child that was deceased. 

Was there a child born to this couple between 1881 and 1884?  I’m still looking.

But, back to their marriage record.  May/Mary Eve Thorp was born in Oswego, New York 4 Apr 1862.  Her family moved to Detroit, Michigan when she was 2-3 years old.  William Val Gould was born 31 Aug 1859 in Armada, Michigan, (just north of Detroit) where he lived til his early teens.  His family then moved to Detroit.

By the year 1881 May was 19 years old and William was 22 years old.  Both sets of their parents were living in Detroit at that time, as were all of May’s siblings.  William had no living siblings.

 

Where would you look for a marriage record?  Michigan, right?  Or, from previous experience with my family, perhaps just across the river in Ontario, Canada.  Maybe even in northern Ohio?

 

Having done sweeping searches on many occasions I had come to the conclusion that I might never locate a record for this marriage.

However, we are genealogists and one thing we don't do is give up.

Fast forward to earlier this week.  I’m researching another ancestor and in the process, re reading my research notes.  Included in those notes was a copy of an email request I had sent to someone asking if they could help with 2 records I was looking for.  I date all of my research notes and this was from March 2017.  The second record was one for a marriage record in ILLINOIS that listed a May E. Thorp, age 19 marrying on 12 Oct 1881.  The page was said to be damaged and no groom’s name was listed.  There is a microfilm number and an image number listed.

Name  groom’s name not given 
Event Type    Marriage
Event Date    12 Oct 1881
Event Place    Jackson, Illinois, United States
Event Place (Original)    Jackson County, Illinois
Gender    Male
Spouse's Name    May E. Thorp
Spouse's Gender    Female
Note    Pr Name: pg cut off;
GS Film Number    000968928
Digital Folder Number   004708066
Image Number    00787

WHY IN THE WORLD DID I NOT LOOK FOR THAT FILM ON FAMILY SEARCH AT THAT TIME?  I have no good answer to that question, but I’ve had many slap your forehead moments.  This was definitely one of them.

I went right over to Family Search, to the catalog and entered that microfilm number.  Once I got to the film I entered 787 in the space for image/page number and up came an image.

I scrolled through all 800+ images and you know what?  There was only ONE that was torn.  Of course it was the image I was interested in.

Looking at this screen shot of some of the images, which one do you think is the one I'm interested in? 

Yup, the torn one in row 3.   

(You can click on any image in this post to enlarge it and zoom in)

Here it is in original form.  Not a pretty image, that’s for sure.  But, it is readable when I zoom in…..at least most of the names are.  You just hope you don’t have a name in that lower left corner, right?

That wasn’t how my luck was going to go today.  I downloaded, cropped and cleaned up the image.  However, no amount of cleanup can replace the missing names.

HERE IS THE CLEANED UP IMAGE, ANNOTATED

There in the lower left you can see the name of the woman – May E. Thorp, age 19.  No man’s name can be seen at all due to the damage on the page.

A close up of that section reveals the name May E. Thorp and her age, 19

This is encouraging to me though.  My May E. Thorp would have been 19 in 1881.  Another thing is the spelling of the Thorp name.  This line of the family spelled it without an “e” at the end.  Was this marriage in Sep or a later month?

 

According to the index I’ve copied directly from the Family Search page (see it above), the date is 12 Oct 1881.  

• My question to you is, how do they know that exact date, if no date can be seen?  
• Is there another record of this marriage somewhere in Jackson County, Illinois?  This is only a register.  Shouldn't there be a license or certificate or some other formal record of this marriage?

I will be at the Family History Library for Rootstech in February of this year and will follow up on Illinois marriage records.

What would you conclude from this?  Is this the marriage record for my paternal great grandparents?  Will I ever know for sure?  Or, is this one of the cases where we come to a conclusion based on evidence we have gathered, even though we might not have all the pieces?

My questions and thoughts…..

• If this is their marriage, why did they go to Illinois?  They were both of age so no parental consent was needed.  Jackson County, Illinois is not on the list of Gretna Green locations.
• Did they have friends or someone in the family in Illinois?  I’m not aware of any close family who lived there at that time.
• Did they elope just to avoid having an official wedding?
• Were there divisions in the family or families that caused them to go out of state?
• Were they going to honeymoon in the state and decided to marry there?

Those are some of my questions.  I’d love to have your input on the matter.

This couple stayed married until William’s death in 1924.  May lived for 22 years after him but never remarried.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

MYSTERY MONDAY - WHO'S YOUR DADDY? Brick Walls Post #4 - Catherine Dorsey Thorp about 1842-1898

WHAT I LEARNED FROM ONE SINGLE PAGE OF A CIVIL WAR PENSION FILE–1864 –Edith E. Thorp widow of Walter B. Thorp

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2020   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

WEDDING WEDNESAY ~ Finding 2 marriage records when you were only looking for one–and some TIPS

In locating the image for the marriage of Hannah ARMSTRONG and David DALLAS/DALLA, I also found the marriage record for Martin WILSON and Mary “Polly” BOGGS.

TIP:  This is yet another reminder of why we MUST look at surrounding records, whether on a census sheet, a marriage record or a probate record.  I’ve definitely learned, over the years, that this method pays off.

Case in point.  I already had a marriage date for a couple I was looking at.  In fact, I had the index for that marriage, which took place 25 Jun 1815.  As we all know, just because an image wasn’t available when you last looked, doesn't mean it's not online now.

This was the case for Hannah Armstrong & David Dallas/Dalla.  I thought I’d check on Ancestry and Family Search to see if an image of the record was now available.

 

Here’s the index I had located a few years ago.

Ohio, County Marriage Records, 1774-1993
Name:    Anna Armstrong
Gender:    Female
Marriage Date:    25 Jun 1815
Marriage Place:    Gallia, Ohio, USA
Spouse:    David Dalla
Film Number:    000317652

And, here is the record I located when I checked again on Ancestry.

(YOU CAN CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)

On the left hand page, indicated in red, you can see the Dalla/Armstrong marriage.  I could have just downloaded it, added it to Legacy and sourced it and moved on.  BUT, I read ALL the entries on those 2 pages.  Look at the right hand side, indicated in green.

Don’t you know…..there, on the opposite page, is an entry for a Polly BOGGS marrying Martin WILSON.  Mmmmm…Boggs happens to be one of my direct lines and they were located in Ohio, Virginia & West Virginia.

I looked in my Legacy tree, and there they were.  Same as the other couple, I had found the indexed record of the marriage, but not the image.

 

Ohio, Marriages, 1803-1900
Name:    Polly Boggs
Gender:    Female
Spouse: Martin Wilson
Spouse Gender:    Male
Marriage Date:    8 Jun 1815
County:    Gallia
State:    Ohio

Here are cropped images of both those marriage records.

David Dalla & Anna Armstrong married 25 Jun 1815

Martin Wilson & Polly Boggs married 8 Jun 1815

There are a couple of lessons here.  One I already mentioned, is reviewing all adjacent records.

The other, is to look closely and read what the record says.  You’ll notice that the date that jumps out at you on both of these records is August 1815, at the end of each entry.  BUT, that’s not the marriage date, it’s the date the record was given a seal or recorded.  How easy it would be to record the wrong date.

I’m very happy to have located these images.  I always seek to view, with my own eyes, any record.  I don’t want to rely on indexing or some other transcription if I don’t have to.  Sometimes, though, it is all we have.

I hope this information has been helpful.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

HELPFUL TIPS FOR USING LEGACY

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2020   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

MAYFLOWER SOCIETY ~ Episode 5–My Application is signed and ready to be sent to Plymouth–What happened along the way?

This has been quite a little journey so far.  However, thanks to the incredible help of one of the reviewers (DS, you know who you are), all is well and my application will soon be in the hands of the people in Plymouth.

My application has gone through and been approved by 3 historians.  While there were a few glitches along the way, I’d say the process has gone very well.

In spite of a missing maiden name, two missing marriage records and a death record or two without both parents names, we think there is enough proof to move forward.

How might you make up for those missing records?

• For the missing maiden name, we have the first name of the wife on other records, that connect her to the husband, as well as her first name being used on records relating to her children
• For the missing marriage records you might provide – death certificates naming the spouse, obituaries, census records showing the two living in the same household, birth, death & marriage records from the children that name both parents, often including the mother’s maiden name
• There are probate records that can also be critical in proving relationships – please see the post from June of last year that FINALLY got me going on my process to apply to the Mayflower Society.  FINALLY! Proving the father of my 3rd great grandmother, Olive Doten Hart (1805-1887–WHAT DID I FIND?
• A Note - All of the above are just suggestions and I certainly don't have the authority to say what will or will not be acceptable.

TIP: When or if you go through this application process, be extra sure you proofread everything carefully.  Even the final application returned from the reviewers/historians.  I found a couple of transcription mistakes and those were easily corrected.  After all, these reviewers aren’t only working on your application, but many others.
 
So, here is it – the official California Mayflower Society letter asking me to sign my application and return it with a check.  Once the application reaches Plymouth it could take as long as 3 to 4 months to complete.

I can wait it out…….with great anticipation.  Hoping that the next time I hear from them, it’s my membership certificate arriving in the mail.

To read my other posts about my Mayflower Society application process, please click here

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2020   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION