The Goettlings: Sophia Goettling (Part 2)

Continuing the Goettling family! Sophia is Ernest's sister. See "Part 1" post here.

Sophia Goettling

Sophia Goettling was born on February 28, 1870, in Beinstein, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. She married John Jacob Dinger and they had six children together (Walter G, Albert, Otto, Edward W, Victor E and Edith Delona). John died July 12, 1900. She then married Fredlieb Lautenschlager in 1917. She died in 1945 in Waterloo, Ontario, at the age of 75.

I couldn't find much on her beyond some Canadian census records. Her headstone was on Canada Gen Web, and another Ancestry user had uploaded her obituary.

Photo by Doug Smith via CanadaGenWeb

Mrs. Sophie Lautenschlager, a highly respected resident of New Dundee for many years passed away on Saturday after a brief illness at the home of her daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. L. Bacher, 744 King St. E., Kitchener.

She was born in Germany 75 years ago on Feb. 28, 1870, a daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Gottlieb Goettling. She came to Ontario with her parents at an early age and the family settled at Pine Hill. She was first married to John Jacob Dinger who predecesased her in 1900 and in 1917 she married Friedlieb Lautenschlager who passed away in 1932. Since the death of her husband the late Mrs. Lautenschlager has made her home with her son, Victor Dinger, New Dundee. The deceased was a member of the local Baptist Church and of the Women's Missionary Circle.

Surviving are: five sons, Walter, Albert, Otto and Edward Dinger of the United States and Victor Dinger of New Dundee; one daughter, Mrs. L. (Edith) Bacher, Kitchener; three stepsons, Phillip Lautenschlager, Southampton; Alvin Lautenschlager, New Dundee, and Sydney Lautenschlager, Kitchener; eleven grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; one sister, Mrs. Pauline Riehm of Kitchener; and five brothers, Christian, Gottlieb and Ernest Goettling of the United States, William Goettling, New Dundee and Albert Goettling of Kitchener R.R. 2.

The funeral will be held on Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock from the home of her son, Victor Dinger to the Baptist Church for service. Rev. H.F. Schade will officiate and interment will be made in thew New Dundee Union Cemetery.

I suspect Sophia has quite a few living descendants between 6 children, most of who went on to have families of their own as far as I can tell. :) So it's just a matter of tracking one of them down or one of them stumbling across the blog!

William Smith Kiser Weimer

William Smith Kiser Weimer was born on August 9, 1881, in Avilla, Indiana to Aby L. Haney and Simon Weimer. He married Nettie Belle Barr on November 24, 1908, in Noble County, Indiana. They had three children - Robert Dale, Maxine N and Mildred. Nettie died November 19, 1957, in Kendallville, Indiana, at the age of 72. William died on October 1973 in Albion, Indiana, at the age of 92.

I can't find any mention of him in any digitized newspapers - which is kind of a bummer - but his & Nettie's headstone is on FindAGrave.

Photo by J R N via FindAGrave.com

His son Robert Dale was born on November 14, 1909, in Indiana. He married in 1949 and had 2 daughters and a son. He died in 2004. I think I've found the address of one of his daughters, so I'm going to send off a note today and hope it's the right person. I haven't had much luck sending out snail mail to families. 

Re: Anna May Stevens

So instead of working any of the dozen new photos I've purchased or finishing the 2 draft blog posts that have been sitting in my drafts for months now.... I felt the need to revisit Anna May Stevens, the very first photo I blogged about. I don't know why it's suddenly bothering me that I've been in possession of this photo for almost 2 years now. But it is.

Anna May Stevens

Previously I only had done some brief research about Anna, through both of her marriages (and utterly adorable first marriage announcement which is still one of my favourite stories ever), move to Florida and subsequent death... and a little bit of her parents. She had 2 younger brothers that I never really looked into. I'm hoping that one of her brother's descendants will stumble across this and I can finally reunite Anna with her family.

The older brother, George Black Stevens was born December 15, 1876. He married Edith W. Hoffman on June 15, 1904, in his hometown. They had two children during their marriage - Helen (born around 1906) and George Black (born July 18, 1907). He died on September 29, 1907, in Roaring Spring, Pennsylvania, at the age of 30 due to complications during appendicitis surgery.

George Black Stevens death certificate

I couldn't find anything on Helen, but George Black Junior was married and had a son also named George Black.

The younger brother, James Howe Stevens was born September 14, 1879. He had one son - Adie Allen Stevens II -  with Mary M. on November 7, 1909. He died on March 30, 1914, in Tyrone, Pennsylvania, at the age of 34 of spinal meningitis.

James Howe Stevens death certificate

Adie Allen Stevens II had 4 children... and that seems like my best chance to perhaps find a home for this photo of Anna May.

The Goettlings: Ernest Goettling & Susanna "Susie" Rose Gateman (Part 1)

I'm going to have to divide these posts up into parts, otherwise this is going to be the longest blog post ever. Two months ago I found one of my biggest hauls of a single (labeled!) family at an antique store. Needless to say, I was very excited.

And work got insane and all genealogy got put on hold because by the time I was done with my day, all I wanted to do was curl up in a little ball and not think about anything. I picked these back up last week and decided I was going to find where every single person it into this family.

Ernest Goettling was born on February 14, 1874, in Germany to parents Gottlieb and Johanna Goettling (nee Krauss). He married Susanna "Susie" Rose Gateman on December 25, 1903, in Waterloo, Canada. They had five children in 16 years. He died on September 27, 1948, in Tacoma, Washington, at the age of 74.

 

Ernest and Susanna Goettling

As far as newspaper clippings go, I didn't find much online. There were a few real estate transactions that mentioned Ernest - the most notable of which is where he bought land to build his home for his new bride - and a vague birth announcement for their daughter Katharine.

From the Tacoma Daily News (Tacoma, WA), February 27, 1904. Page 10.

Also found in this photo batch was a picture of their daughter Ruth, born November 20, 1904. She married Gilford Schoeffler and had one daughter. She died May 26, 2001 in Tempe, Arizona. 

Daughter Ruth

Which explains how all these family photos ended up in Arizona. I, of course, can't find Ruth's obituary online, so one of these weekends I'm going to have to trek down the library and see if I can dig it up. 

There were also a few photos of Susanna with her siblings which are pretty marvelous.

Susanna with sisters. From left: Mary, Esther, Susanna and Miranda

Susanna, Leander and Mary Gateman

To be continued.... with other branches of the Goettling family!

David George & Bessie Pearl Mulkins (nee Porter)

Last month I stumbled across this golden anniversary certificate kind of awkwardly laid out on a table at an antique store. It was only $4, and I knew I had to buy it.

David George Mulkins was born April 20, 1879 to Joab & Margaret Isabel Mulkins (nee Creighton) in Franklin County, Iowa. September 15, 1909 he married Bessie Pearl Porter - born July 1886 to John & Ellen Porter (nee Towslee). They had 4 children - Guyida Pearl, Floyd David, Edith Lucille and Claude Russell. David died June 18, 1966 and Bessie died September 19, 1971.

Photo by Melissa Lively Sherry via FindAGrave.com

For some reason I've had a bit of difficulty finding much online about the family. I think Guyida is the only child with living descendants. I'm about 75% sure I've found the snail mail address for one of Guyida's children so I'll send a note off to them and see if they're interested in the certificate. Hopefully they still live there. And don't think I'm some weird stalker person.

Rosemarie Amelia Helfrich

This diploma is the main reason I started this blog 5 months ago. A friend of my mom's had been holding onto this diploma for years after her husband had found it in the attic of an house he used to live in in Pittsburgh. They took it with them when they moved to Arizona in hopes that they could one day send it back to Rosemarie's family.

I had only just started buying antique store photos when my mom brought this diploma over and asked me to see if I could find a relative who wanted it.

Rosemarie Amelia Helfrich was born February 1, 1901 in Pennsylvannia to parents Charles W Helfrich and Catherine G Emerich. She had a younger brother Raymond (born 1904). Rosemarie died unmarried March 15, 1997 in Sherman Oaks, California.

Her brother did marry and have children. In fact, right off I found her great niece on Ancestry, but she didn't want the diploma. Months went by and I had kinda put Rosemarie on the back burner until last week I decided to see if anybody had saved anything from my Antique Store Photo tree out on Ancestry. Which is how I got in contact with Rosemarie's 1st cousin 1x removed! A descendant of Catherine's sister Amelia happily agreed to take the orphaned diploma in.

It got mailed off on Monday.

I'm really happy I was finally able to find somebody who wanted the diploma. And best part is.... she had a photo of Rosemarie so I finally got to see the face of the woman whose college diploma has been sitting in my living room for months.

Rosemarie in 1996.

I bet she was a great lady. :)

David & Luvisa Shanks (nee Fisher)

More photos I bought back in January while visiting in-laws in California. If I hadn't found Luvisa's photo, I probably would not have purchased David's because a later generation had only labeled the back as "Grandfather Shanks, age 21". Unhelpful. Also, Luvisa actually signed the back of hers which is pretty cool.

David Shanks was born December 23, 1832 in Crab Orchard, Kentucky to parents William Shanks and Rebecca Baughman. He married Luvisa Fisher - daughter of William Paterson Fisher and Mary Truesdale Pennington, born March 11, 1837 -  on September 22nd, 1853 in Lincoln County, Kentucky. They had 9 children - Judith, Rebecca, Ephraim, Mary, Susan, Kate, Nannie (Mamie?), Samuel and C Walter Shanks. David died August 5, 1882 and Luvisa died January 6, 1915.

Photos by Cathy & Thomas (David's) and Christina Bishop (Luvisa's) via FindAGrave.com

I didn't find much going backwards documentation-wise. I found a couple trees that traced David's line back to Thomas Owsley (1730-1796, Illinois). If that's true... then David's grand uncle was William Owsley, the 16th Governor of Kentucky... which is pretty cool. He even has his own Wikipedia page!

Going forwards, I've managed to follow their oldest daughter Judith's line down quite a ways... to 8 great great great grandchildren, who as far as I know are still alive.... and I'm just starting to work my way down Kate's line. With so many living descendants, I'm very hopeful that I can find somebody interested in owning these photos. :)

Frances Virginia Wilcoxen

Frances Virginia Wilcoxen

I almost didn't buy this photo. I walked past it a few times and then ultimately decided it was too adorable not to go back for.

I also put off researching it because the photo has no photographer's mark or hint of location. The only identification on the photo says "Frances Wilcoxen, Stella's daughter". Tonight I happened to pull up the back a bit to find that it was a postcard photograph and had started to be addressed to "Aunt Gussie". So I ran with that and blindly started researching the first Frances Wilcoxen I could find who had Stella listed as her mother. Many census records later... I found Aunt Gussie!

Frances Virginia Wilcoxen was born November 11, 1916 in Fayetteville, Arkansas to parents Clarence Alva Wilcoxen and Stella Adair Miller. She married John "Jack" Albert Weeks April 13, 1940. They had 2 children - Betty J and Roy J Weeks. Frances died May 20, 1995.

Graves of Frances V & Jack A Weeks

photos by k75evad via FindAGrave.com

Jack A. Weeks, 65, of 4218 E 62nd, died Thursday at Baptist Memorial Hospital. He was born in Osage County Missouri and had lived in the Kansas City area most of his life. He retired in 1969 after 15 years as a business agent for the International Brotherhood of Painters District Council No. 3. He leaves his wife, Mrs. Frances V. Weeks of the home; a son, Roy J Weeks, 5723 E 40th Terrace; a daughter, Mrs. Betty J Ruzick, 1519 N 45th Terrace, Kansas City, Kansas; two brothers, William P. Weeks, Golden, Mo., and Edward E. Weeks, Moline, Ill.; five sisters, Mrs. Cecil T. Stoneking, Westmont, Ill.; Mrs. Sara M. Mahany, 6300 Farrow, Kansas City, Kansas; Mrs Hazel E. Hunt and Mrs. Elsie A Olson, both of Golden, and Mrs. Elma L. Kendall, Dayton, Ohio, four grandchildren and a great-grandson. Service will be held at 1 p.m. Monday at the Floral Hills Chapel; burial in Floral Hill Cemetery. Friends may call from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday at the chapel.


I've tracked her family down to her great great grandson... and while I can't seem to find an email address for him online, I have found his snail mail address (yay White Pages!). So I'll mail him a little note on Monday and see if he's interested in the photo or if somebody else in his family is the family historian.

The Barnes Family

So, after posting that last post about Frank & Nellie, I remembered that the same time I had purchased that photo (over a month ago)... I had also purchased a few other photos labeled Barnes.

Surprise! They're Nellie's relatives!

Harry, Joseph Alexander & Belle Barnes

So I haven't figured out where Belle fits in the tree yet... but Harry is Nellie's brother and Joseph is her half-brother. 

TO BE CONTINUED....

William Franklin & Ellen "Nellie" Altenburg (nee Barnes)

Frank & Nellie Altenburg

So this was a bit of an adventure last night. :) The back of this photo is actually labeled "Nettie & Frank Altenburg, Earnest's sister". The photographer's mark on the front is from Ithaca, Michigan. So of course, the first thing I did was search for a Francis Altenburg... or an Antoinette Altenburg in Michigan and came up empty. These people don't exist.

Plan B was to do a public tree search on Ancestry for Frank Altenburg and see if any of them had a wife whose name could be shortened to Nettie. Which is how I found William Franklin Altenburg and his wife Ellen - AKA Nellie. They lived in Newark, Michigan according to the 1910, 1920 and 1930 census records.

Despite having most of my extended family in Michigan, I don't actually know distances between Michigan cities. Luckily, Google Maps knows. Google knows everything.

You could probably spit into Ithaca from Newark if you had a good tail wind to help you (okay, maybe not... but they are REALLY close). This already seems pretty likely that William Franklin and Ellen are the people in this picture.

But of course I can't just stop the verification there. I had to find out if Ellen had a brother Earnest. According to Ellen's marriage record (and also the 1880 census), her parents were J.H. Barnes and Mary Harlow. I kinda cheated and went back to the public trees which had her father listed as John H and searched census records for John and Mary. Both the 1900 and 1910 censuses show John and Mary of having a son named Earnest (Ernie on 1900, Ernest on 1910).

The pièce de résistance... both Frank & Nellie are buried in Ithaca Cemetery. So I feel 99.9% confident that William Franklin Altenburg and Ellen "Nellie" Barnes are the two individuals in this photo and whoever labeled the back of it was a more distant relative of Frank's who thought his wife's name was Nettie instead of Nellie. Easy mistake to make if you weren't close.

Alas, Frank & Nellie did not have any children. Nellie died in 1935 and Frank remarried a woman who had 6 kids from a previous marriage.

Frank had a brother and sister (Warren & Sarah)... and Nellie had a crapton of siblings (Elizabeth, Lottie, Harry, Vern, Earnest, Leroy & Dewey)... so now it's just a matter of tracking down their descendants and reuniting this photo with them!

An unexpected gift!

So this was at my front door today. Completely unexpected. 

It's a thank you gift from Jan Fobes Mowat's son... for finding, purchasing, researching and sending him the photos of his father. This is so thoughtful and sweet. Gives me the warm fuzzies. 

I've never actually heard of Harry & David products, but various Facebook friends assure me it's great stuff. They look delicious. Can't wait for my husband to get more fresh bread from his baker tennis buddy so I can break these bad boys open!

Walker Merriam Philbrook

I went to California last weekend to visit in-laws... and made a slight detour to some local antique shops and went a little photo crazy. I feel a little bad, because I haven't even touched some of my last 2 batches of purchases... but I couldn't help myself. The lure of new antique stores called! 

This baby photo was one of the photos that screamed "buy me!"... because the back of it was labeled "Walker Merriam Philbrook 3 mo & a few days". I adore that whoever labeled the photo felt the need to include the 'few days' and the baby is a cutie to boot.

Walker Merriam Philbrook

So from what research I did on him, I don't think he has any living direct descendants. Walker was born September 8, 1893 in Rockport, Maine to parents Edward S Philbrook and Sophia G Merriam. He was their only child, as Edward died in 1900. Sometime between 1910 and 1920 Walker and his mother moved to California. April 24, 1925 Walker married Leonora Anita Griffin. February 14, 1927 they had a daughter named Elizabeth Louise ("Betty Lou"). Leonora died in 1954 and Walker in 1986.

Their daughter married Nial James Rider Jr and as far as I can tell, had no children. Nial died in 1975 and Elizabeth in 1997.

Photo by countedx58 via FindAGrave.com

I did find one person on Ancestry that had Walker listed in their tree, but I think they're releated to Sophia's side of the tree... and might not necessarily be interested in a baby photo of Walker.

I couldn't find any newspaper articles about Walker. Not even an obit. The search for family continues...

Orlando Stephen Thompson

I keep putting off writing this post because I keep thinking I'll find something more interesting on Orlando. Alas, searching for newspaper articles on both Newspapers.com and GenealogyBank.com comes up with a lot of nothing. And a lot of articles from Orlando, Florida. Curse being named after a city!

Orlando Stephen Thompson

Orlando Stephen Thompson. Born 26 Feb 1894 in Harvey, Illinois to parents Wilder B Thompson and Laura Cloud. He married Polly Anna Randall and had a daughter Doris Jean (born 27 Jun 1919 also in Harvey, Illinois). He died 18 Jul 1988 in Englewood, Florida.

I actually found a pretty interesting article that mentioned Orlando's father Wilder from 1899. 

HARVEY HAS A SALOON FIGHT
------------------
Liquor Me Win First Round and Buy Lot Owned by Methodist

Harvey's saloon fight is on in earnest. Mayor Braley vetoed the license ordinance passed two weeks ago. Monday evening the ordinance was passed over the mayor's head by the two-thirds license majority in  the council. A saloon location near the Grand Trunk depot at One Hundred and Fifty-Second street and Columbia avenue has already been secured by George Freeman, alderman of the Second ward, and the keeper of a saloon just across the Harvey bored in Thornton.

Until the sale of this land to Freeman by Wilder B. Thompson, a prominent member of the Methodist church, the Anti-Salloon league had confidently counted on the inability of prospective seekers for saloon sites to find any desirable ones inside the city limits. 

"Brother Thompson will never sell his lot for saloon purposes," said a speaker at an anti-saloon mass meeting held in the Congregational church last Sunday afternoon. When the announcement concerning the probable action of "Brother" Thompson was made there were many "amens," and the meeting adjourned with a sense of security insofar as the invasion of the down-town section of Harvey was concerned.

Mr. Thompson, when seen in reference to the sale of his land, admitted it. There was another available lot adjacent to his property and if a saloon was to come he might as well sell as another. It was a business proposition and Mr. Thompson said he treated it from that standpoint.

The hope of the antis lies in Mayor Braley. The major is a large property owner. He will only sign the ordinance passed over his veto upon compulsion. There are said to be material flaws in the ordinance as passed, which even the friends of the measure admit to be one of the most "liberal" saloon license ordinances ever passed by a city council. 

Ejectment proceedings will be brought against certain border saloons. Eugene Carey, trustee, has served notice to vacate permises upon Simon F. Schuts, who recently purchased the saloon formerly kept by "Billy" McHatchy at Halsted street and One Hundred and Fifty-Fifth place. The ground of the action is a prohibitory clause in Eugene Carey subdivision similar to those upon Harvey lots.

Orlando had two brothers, Harwell Cloud and Albert Wilder Thompson. Harwell was a US air mail service pilot who died tragically in a plane crash.

Harwell Cloud Thompson

MAIL PILOT KILLED WHEN PLAN FALLS

-----------------

Pilot Harwell C. Thompson of the United States air mail service crashed to his death yesterday near Liberty Center, O., while carring mail from Cleveland to Chicago.

A veteran of this war, during which he served overseas as a lieutenant in the air service, and with three years experience in the air mail division. Thomspon came to his end when his plane sideslipped while he was trying to make a forced landing. He died shortly after being taken to the Wauseon (O.) hospital.

He left Cleveland with the Chicago mail yesterday morning at 9:07 and was due in Chicago at noon. Immediately upon receipt of word of Thompson's death, H.B. Shaver, superintendent of the air mail station at Glenn L. Martin field, sent Pilot Warren D. Williams to the scene of the wreck with orders to pick up the mail and carry on.

The article goes on to mention he left behind his wife who was 6 weeks away from giving birth. :( So sad.

His other brother Albert, lived the ripe old age of 95.

Albert Wilder Thompson, 95, former dean of the College of Sciences and Arts at Washington State University, died Sept. 19 at his Princeton, N.J. home of cancer.

He was born in Harvey, Ill. He recieved his bachelor's degree from the university of Illinois in 1922, a master's degree from Harvard in 1923 and a doctorate from the University of Chicago in 1929. His specialty was old French.

He married Edna Sackett in 1923. 

In 1930 the couple came to Pullman, were they remained for 46 years. He became full professor at Washington State College, now WSU, in 1947, and later that year became chairman of the Division of Humanities. 

He was named dean of the College of Sciences at Arts in 1953, a position he held until his retirement in 1964. She died in 1982.

After his retirement he studied the history of the Northwest, in particular the early French Canadian explorers.

In 1972, the oldest building on the WSU campus, which had been declared a National Historical Landmark, was renamed Thompson Hall.

He and his wife moved to Princeton in 1976 to be near their daughter. 

He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the Sons of the American Revolution, the Modern Language Association, the Medieval Academy of American and other professional organizations. 

He was a life  member of the NAACP and a patron of the Princeton NAACP Legal Defense Fund. He enjoy playing piano and traveling in Europe and the Northwest. 

I can only imagine... since both is brothers were such fascinating, brave, intelligent men, that Orlando was cut from the same cloth. 

I did find a school photo of him on DeadFred.com from 1917, but I don't know what he was majoring in. 

Orlando Stephen Thompson is #3.  Class of 1917.

As I mentioned at the beginning, I know that Orlando married Polly Anna "Annie" Randall in 1916 and that they had a daughter Doris Jean in 1919. I also know that Doris married a James Douglas Youd... and that they had 3 children (at least that I could find) together. Doris died in 1998. I assume her children are still alive, but nobody that I reached out to with the photo of Orlando has replied yet. :(

This photo was purchased from Covered Wagon Antique Mall in Mesa, Arizona

Edith L Hoover

And sometimes, there just isn't any family at all....

Edith L Hoover
A Merry Xmas "96"

I've been researching this little girl's family for hours now. There's just... nobody. She was an only child. Married, but had no children. Her maternal aunt (unmarried) and paternal uncle (married) had no children. As far as I can tell, her paternal grandparents were only children... and I can't find any info on her maternal grandparents beyond a death certificate for her grandfather who was born in Wales and immigrated to the US. 

Unless there's a living descendant from her husband's siblings... looks like I'll be holding onto this photo.

I'll probably revisit this tree at some point. Maybe I can find a 3rd or 4th cousin eventually.

This photo was purchased from Covered Wagon Antique Mall in Mesa, Arizona.

The Jacobson Family

Last weekend I found a stack of photos - all labeled - of one family. I was beyond excited. These photos are amazing and I really hope I can track somebody down to claim them.

Back - Peter Jacobson, Charlie, Frank. Front - wife Anna, Oscar, Esther and Hilma

LEFT - Esther Jacobson

RIGHT- Esther, Anna and Hilma Jacobson

LEFT - Hilma & Esther Jacobson

RIGHT - Hilma Cecilia Jacobson

Hilma Jacobson Berg

So what I've found so far... Peter (born Jan 1855) & Anna Jacobson (nee Benson or Bentson, born Oct 1860) emigrated from Sweden in 1881. They settled in Rockford, Illinois for a while, where they had their 5 children - Hilma Cecilia (born January 25, 1882), Frank Walfred (born October 23, 1883), Charles Peter (born Dec 13, 1885), Oscar Edward (born June 14, 1889) and Esther M (born Dec 24, 1890). In 1905 they moved to Canada.

Which is where research on my part gets trickier, as my access to Canadian records and newspapers is quite limited.

Thanks to the backs of a couple photos, I know that Hilma married a man named Edwin Berg and that Esther had married a man whose surname was Gray... and they had a daughter Dorothy who died in a fire in 1918. I was able to verify that with a newspaper clipping and found a photo of their headstone, but can't find the first name of her husband.

Vancouver Daily World
(Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)
31 Jan 1918, Thu • Page 12
Accessed From: Newspapers.com

Photo by Terrance B. Sweeney via FindAGrave.com

I'm pretty sure that Ocsar has living descendants and possibly Hilma. I did find one tree on Ancestry that had this family listed, and messaged them, but have not heard back. Which is killing me, because I'd really love to share the excitement of finding these photos.

Here's to hoping any descendants run across this blog. 

These photos were purchased from Antique Plaza in Mesa, Arizona.