Ancestry Saturday: Touchdown House

My third great grandparents' Cincinnati house was at 419 David Street.

I decided to look it up.

Google Maps shows David Street is still there, but the location of Frederick and Elizabeth Schroeder's house has a different purpose.

It seems that the west goal line at the Cincinnati area's football stadium is where their house used to be.

It's sort of like scoring a touchdown every time you visit.

U.S. Route 62 - A Family History Route - Part 2: Oklahoma to Kentucky

All four branches of my kids' family tree has stopovers on U.S. Route 62 from Oklahoma to New York.  The route is a family history route.

Part 1: Oklahoma to Kentucky

Meet some of the people and places in the family history story along the first 1,000 miles of US62, heading east from Oklahoma.

Amos Platt:  US62 runs through Oklahoma City, just a few miles southeast of the burial place of my kids' third great grandafther, Amos Platt in Kingfisher County, Oklahoma.  Amos was a Methodist Episcopal minister with churches in Western Pennsylvania, Kansas, and Oklahoma.  He moved his family west around 1885, but stayed there even when they moved back to Pennsylvania five years later.

He was born in 1844 in Clarion County Pennsylvania, just a few miles southeast of US62 too.

Lorene Mastin (left)

Lorene Mastin:  My kid's great grandmother on their mom's side spent the last four decades of her life living in Mountain Home, Arkansas.  She grew up in the heartland with a penchant for music.  Her sister Cora and her were the "cowgirls of the radio" and music brought her to Mountain Home, nearby the music scene of Branson, Missouri.

Lorene died in 2012 and is buried less than a mile off U.S. Route 62.

Pocahontas: The daughter of Chief Powhatan is my kids' 11th great grandmother and gives her name to a town in Arkansas right along US62.  It's safe to say she never visited, but there is a statue of her right there at the Black River Overlook Park.  Just take US62.

The Gates Family Farm in 1905

Eliza Mattingly:  Bardstown, Kentucky is dissected by US62 and the Nelson County home of Elizabeth (Mattingly) Gates isn't far north in Samuels.  My kids' fourth great grandmother spent all 85 years of her life in the same general area around US62.

Her daugther, Eliza (Gates) Blandford, spent her 50 years living around US62 too.  The Gates, Mattingly, Miles, and Blandford families had deep roots there long before US62 was built.

A bible record of US62 births.

John Downing:  A 1790 tax list places my kids' sixth great grandfather in Mason County, Kentucky early in the area's settlement history.  A bible record documents the births and deaths in this county where US 62 now runs.

Like the McConnell, Ellis, Naylor, Sanders, and other ancestral families, the Downings came down the Ohio River from the Washington County, Pennsylvania area to settle.

US62 crosses right through Old Washington where James and his wife, Susannah (Ellis) Downing are reportedly buried on the old family farm.

Then, the stories cross the Ohio River.

U.S. Route 62 - A Family History Route

The 1,500 miles from Kingfisher, Oklahoma to Niagara Falls, New York finds stop overs in my kids' family history story in all four branches of their family tree.  All of those miles are along U.S. Route 62.

Amos Platt is buried at Kingfisher.  My third great grandfather was a Methodist minister who was in Oklahoma in its pre-statehood years.

My parents honeymooned at Niagara Falls in 1965.  My kids would visit with me in 2015.

In between, there were Blandfords in Bardstown, Mastins in Mountain Home, McConnells in Maysville, and Sanders in Samantha.

US62 Map From Wikipedia

This piece kicks off a six-part series.  In the next part, I'll look at the 1,000 miles from Oklahoma to Kentucky.  Parts 3 and 4 explore Southern Ohio and Northern Ohio.  The last 200 miles traverse Northwestern Pennsylvania and Western New York.

The journey along U.S. Route 62, like a journey through our family tree, proves US62 is a family history route.

Ancestry Saturday: He Hewed The Timber Into Central Ohio History

Columbus, Ohio at a time when the Broad Street Bridge (at middle right) is made of wood.

Charles Harper's 1911 obituary reads, "He hewed the timber for the first Broad street bridge in Columbus, and a part of the timber is still in use. He hewed the timber and was a contractor for a large part of the material in the old state penitentiary."

These two sentences give my kids' fourth great grandfather on their mom's side a lasting place in Central Ohio's history. There are ironic tie-ins to family history too.

The Broad Street Bridge is not made of wood today, but it's a landmark and a vital artery in Columbus' economic past, present, and future.  Ironically, in the 1990's, their grandfather on their dad's side, John Platt, had his offices in Columbus overlooking that same bridge.

Today, the site of the "old state penitentiary" is a high-end retail and housing district.  The district's place in Ohio's history, though, is more owed to a horrific fire April 21, 1930 in which 322 prisoners perished. 

Ironically, a 1930 Census record taken two days before the fire, showed Richard Harper was there.  Richard Harper, convicted for petty theft, died in that 1930 fire in the building built by his great grandfather.  He was brother to my kids' great grandfather, Orville Harper.

Charles Harper's memorial stands an hour northwest of Columbus near Richwood, but his lasting impact is still right there in the heart of the Capitol City.

Ancestry Saturday: Baptismal Record Wall Opens, Family Brick Wall DoesToo

A few years ago they sent my check back uncashed.  The Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati was in limbo about whether they would start making their registry available for family history researchers.

I was elated to recently find they had opened the record books again.  And I sought out some family records in birth, marriage, and death.

My great great grandfather Eugene Merz's Emmaneul Catholic Church  baptismal registry line was among the finds.  With that came his mother's maiden name--Schoenfelder.

A proverbial family brick wall has opened!

This surname was elusive to researchers before.  Now, one single record has opened the door to potential others and more familial links.

I'm glad for the decision the Archdiocese made to open their records to the World.  Here's hoping they set an example for others and church records are made increasingly more available to family researchers.

Ancestry Saturday: Length of Lives

Today would have been my Dad's 72nd birthday had he lived this long.

Cancer took him at age 61, but his Platt bloodline was more often likely to live longer.

In fact, only one of the Platt men in his past back to his third great grandfather James Platt lived less.

James Platt was 80 years old in the 1830 Census and one source, the History of Oklahoma, says he lived until age 104.

His son, George lived until 1861 and 75 years. Amos made it to age 83.

It was Royal Platt who died the youngest at 58.

My grandfather, Richard, lived until 76.

The passing of generations, it seems, does not always bring longer lives.

Ancestry Saturday: Preserving My 10th Great Grandparents' Wedding Site

The preservation of my 10th great grandparents' wedding site made Fox News on Wednesday.  That's pretty cool.

The exact location of the wedding of Pocahontas and John Rolfe on 5 April 2014 has been reportedly been discovered.  Plans call for an appropriate historical marker on the location of the event.

See the article at FoxNews.com

Ancestry Saturday: Just Need to Convince The Unconvinced

A convincing 1900 Census record?

My great grandfather Andrew Alfred Baker's parents have been the toughest ancestors to research. 

I'm convinced his father's name is Michael Baker and his mother was Barbara Fries.  A wedding record of him and one for his sister are the keys to the proof.  I wish there were more, though.

I keep hoping that someone else holds some more keys.  I just need to find them and convince them to share.

My research shows he had two sisters that came to Germany with him and his mother.  One was Lizzie and the other was Lena.  Barbara, his mother, had married Jacob Albert before coming to America in 1884.  There were several Albert children, half brothers and sisters to Andrew.

The Albert cousins have been located and are convinced.  They don't have any more than me, though.

The Baker cousins have been hard to bring around.  What they have or don't have hasn't been shaken loose.

Lizzie married a Luebke, a Perger, and a Carson.  She died in Cleveland in 1941 and is buried in an unmarked grave at Calvary Cemetery there.

Lena I've never found.

Lizzie had at least one child with Fritz Luebke.  Their daughter Cora had four children.  However, all of them passed on without bearing children.  No relatives, thus, survive.

Fritz' son Frederick may have also been Lizzie's son.  He was born before Fritz and Lizzie were married so uncertainty abounds.  No birth record or baptismal record has been found to put the blood line to rest.

Though Frederick has several offspring, the offspring haven't researched their family roots or, at least, reached the same conclusions as me.

I contacted one who, initially, was intrigued by the connection.  His intrigue went away quickly, though, and I count him as now unconvinced.

Here's the data:

Multiple records tie Lizzie Baker to Barbara Fries and, thus, Michael Baker.

That same Lizzie was living with her son, or at least step son, Frederick Luebke in the 1900 Census next door to Barbara Fries and her second husband after Michael Baker died, Jacob Albert.  Next door!

When Frederick died, one of his sons witnessed the death certificate and noted his mother as "Elizabeth Unknown."  At least he acknowledged Elizabeth though.

I wonder out loud.  What's that one more thing I need to convince the unconvinced?

Ancestry Saturday: Platt Family Returns to Niagara Falls, Canada

It was almost 50 years ago that my parents, John and Linda Platt, visited Niagara Falls and began their married life that would add three sons and four grandkids to the family tree.

The Platt family has returned.

My kids and I went the opposite direction of the masses and spent Spring Break heading north where there was still snow on the ground and ice bridges in front of the falls at Niagara Falls.  I called it a visit to the white, snowy beaches of the American North Coast that stands in contrast to some of their classmates who visited the white, sandy beaches of our Southern U.S. Coast.

The Skylon Tower that opened in October 1965 wasn't quite completed when John and Linda visited in June 1965.  The famous tower is now seeming a bit dated actually. 

The high-rise hotels and casinos that overlook the Falls weren't there 50 years ago, though there were some hotels thought to be high-rises at the time.  From our 50-story hotel we could see both the American and the Canadian Falls, as well as another 50+/- story casino that stood in front of our view.

The Falls themselves were a little bit different 50 years ago.  Even with measures to control erosion, there's about a foot less earth behind the Falls every 10 years.  After five decades, the difference is measurable indeed.

We also didn't arrive via U.S. Route 62.  The Interstate highway system is now complete that brought us there.  U.S. Route 62 would have taken a couple extra hours each direction. 

EZ Pass made the toll roads and toll bridges easily passable even though the trip into Canada takes a Passport now.  My kids got to learn that their grandfather John Platt headed up the New York State Thruway and, briefly, the EZ Pass agency too.

What a difference 50 years makes, even to one of the wonders of the World.

Ancestry Saturday: Where Was Grandpa Born?

My grandfather Richard Edward Platt's obituary said he was born in Youngstown, Ohio.  Every document I can find says the same thing ranging from his retirement article to his death certificate.  Nothing documents his birth though and Youngstown may not be right.

Once, my Aunt said her father was born in Meadville.  Meadville seems more likely.  His father ran the amusement park in Youngstown in 1914, but in the winter months they lived in Meadville at Grace Smith Platt's parents home.

So, which is it?  Youngstown or Meadville?  Ohio or Pennsylvania?  The answer is elusive.

The Youngstown City Health department has no record. 

The Ohio Birth Index has 386 people born in Ohio on March 7, 1914 but not one among them with a name even remotely resembling the name Richard Platt.

The Meadville answer has nothing to back it up either though.

Pennsylvania reports no record of his birth by that name or on that date either.  And the index can't be viewed by the public until the year 2020.

I may never know for sure.

Ancestry Saturday: Being Lured In

A cousin who lives nearby sent me this photo of my fourth great grandmother's house. I've written before about discovering that Great Grandma Phebe's house was still around.

The photo is luring me in. I really want to go see this house!






Side by side with the sketch of the house from the 1880 History of Ross and Highland Counties book, it is easy to see the match and how little the place has changed.

Yep, road trip!

Ancestry Saturday: I've Never Been to Bloomington, But. . .

. . .I feel like Bloomington's been to me.

Someone mentioned Bloomington, Illinois and McLean County, Illinois in regular conversation this past week.

I didn't chime in, but I thought to myself:  I've never been to Bloomington, but I have ancestors galore from there.

I came back and looked it up.  It's true.

My great grandfather Elmer Armstrong was born in McLean County in 1883.  His father, John McClure Armstrong was born there too, in 1861, and his mother, Isabelle Baylor Armstrong, was born there in 1862.

Best I can tell, all 12 of John and Isabelle's children were born in McLean County.

Many have died there, buried in Bloomington's Blooming Grove Cemetery.

I'll chime in next time.

Ancestry Saturday: Shot Tower History Has Family History

Today, my kids and I stopped by the Shot Tower at the former Fort Hayes in Columbus. We've not stopped for a couple of years. It was a history refresher in more ways than one.

Fort Hayes' Shot Tower invokes a lot of history for the nation, Ohio, and Columbus. It's a source of family history for our family too.



It was begun as a military post in 1862. Though I can't find anything with certainty to say it happened here, shot towers are where lead shot was manufactured to help the Union win the war. Molten metal was dropped into a pool of water and the result was a ball used for ammunition.

It continued as a an Army facility.

Then, in 1905, my great grandfather Elmer Armstrong was, in his own words, "quartered in the shot tower" during his "first week of military service" which began 26 Jan 1905.

It wouldn't be his last time stationed at the shot tower.

The facility became an Army Reception Center, the first place recruits went to start their service to the war effort during World War II. Elmer Armstrong came out of retirement to command the Center at Fort Hayes.

So, he both started and ended his long career spanning five decades at the Fort Hayes shot tower.

Today, it's still standing and serves as a school. Lots of history.

Ancestry Saturday: More Genealogy Memories

She had a room just for growing plants. She couldn't hear very well or see very well, but she was so happy to see us every time we visited. We sure posed for a lot of pictures with her.

A U.S. senator, one my grandfather didn't much care for, stopped by her 90th birthday party.

We bought her a new toilet seat at the mall before visiting one year. I remember her funeral and her burial too.

My Great Grandma Sallie (Bernard) Naylor was my other still-living great grandparent about whom I can recall sketchy memories. She died January 29, 1975 when I was eight years old.

Just as I wrote the other week, I'm the source for future generations of my family looking to learn personal memories of past generations.

I can fill in the memories with forty years of knowledge since.

Her Clintonville neighborhood home in North Columbus had a solarium where she kept a wide variety of plants. She had bad hearing most of her life, and was legally blind before she died at age 90.

We had visited her three times that I can remember and once met her at Salt Fork Lodge for her 90th Birthday party. U.S. Senator John Glenn just happened to be at Salt Fork at the time and stopped by for a hello. Glenn was a Democrat and my grandpa was a Republican.

One of our Columbus visits, I traveled with my grandparents and we stopped at Lazarus at Northland Mall. Neither Lazarus nor Northland Mall exists today.

My memory of her burial helped me find her gravestone without the need for a list almost 40 years later.

Future generations can just ask. I'm their source for family memories.

Ancestry Saturday: The Right Reitenauer?

I found a copy of the book "Genealogy of the Ridenour Family" at the Ohio Genealogical Society library yesterday. This book has been a source for information/references on my fourth great grandparents David Reitenauer and Catherine Fiscus in the book "Ancestors are Forever." Pages 131 and 132 had a great find!

Part 5 of the five-part book has a 1910 letter from John Spratt Wrightnour who wrote a book titled "The Ritenour Family: It is of German Origin" and who has a great deal of information on David and Catherine.  Much of JS's book came out, though,  before his 1910 letter.

You'll note that his 1910 letter seems to correct his error in the book about David descending from Henry (son of the oft-cited Nicholas who came to America in 1739). Instead, he cites a cousin who had first-hand contact with David Reitenauer and indicates he came from Germany. He cites 1763+/- as a birth year, which matches others' research too.

The piece is not rock solid proof, but it sure is compelling evidence.

If this is correct, then it makes it that much more likely that my 4GG David was either a brother or son of Michael Reitenauer, father of Pennsylvania Governor Ritner, solving another mystery.

Ancestry Saturday: My Own Genealogy Memories

One of the first Genealogy 101 suggestions is to quiz your oldest relatives about what they know about past generations. I've done that, and it's worked to give some depth to the family tree.

I am that relative too.

I'm just a few weeks removed from being the oldest of my generation on my mom's side of our family. As such, I'm the only one among my first cousins who can recall meeting our still-living great grandparents. Three of my eight great grandparents were still alive when I was born.

We had to drive under the railroad to get to his place. His retirement home had a lion drinking fountain. As he sat up in his bed, he had a bunch of young women around him in a bedroom not much bigger than mine.

Those were my memories of Great Grandpa Elmer Armstrong. He died March 4, 1971 when I was only four years old so the memories are, understandably, sketchy.

Today, I can piece the sketchy memories into a narrative. One would drive under the CSX line underpass to get from I-71 to Wesley Glen in the Clintonville neighborhood of Columbus. The view approaching that underpass hasn't changed in 45 years. I don't know if the Lion drinking fountain is still there (road trip kids?), but the young ladies must have been health care workers helping him prepare for our visit. He had a one-room retirement center suite.

I wrote about General Armstrong (he was actually an Army Colonel, which I learned after showing it to my grandparents) in the fifth grade. I inherited his bedroom furniture and still use it in my house today. I have some old photos and personal documents in my possession too.

Future generations can come to me to ask about Great Grandpa Armstrong. I'm ready to talk.

Ancestry Saturday: Happy 169th!

The Ancestry App reminded me of a birthday. Today is the 169th anniversary of the birth of Charles Bosworth Bernard who was born January 17, 1846. He was my great great grandfather.

A write-up about his birth said, "He was born in a log cabin in the Fairview Community on what has been known as the Elijah M. Bernard farm and more recently known as the Gumly farm on St. Rt. 729, near Lees Creek, Clinton, Ohio."

He lived his whole life in Green Township in Clinton County. I've been to the farm where he was born.





I've also been to his adult-life home and farm a couple of times because it passed down generations. His youngest daughter, my great grandmother Sallie Bernard, was born in that house in 1884.

Happy Birthday!

Sunday Review: Ohio Ancestors 2014 Year in Review

A full 11 days into 2015, I'm still looking back at 2014 to help set the stage for my family history research going forward in 2015.  There's a lot more to get done.

I now list 35 Revolutionary War patriots in my kids' bloodline.  That's a growth of eight in 2014.  I don't expect a 20% growth in that list for 2015 though.  Confirming a few more might be nice.

I attended the wedding of my third cousin in December and met some living family members, including a convergence story that's borderline creepy.  Who would think that my third cousin from New York would marry someone who once lived just two doors away from where we live now in Ohio?

I count finding my fourth great grandmother Phebe's house a great find of 2014.  It will be made greater if I can schmooze an invite to see the inside in 2015.

We'll make a point to visit the Catholic church in Somerset, Ohio again in 2015 where my fourth great grand uncle was a priest more than a century and a half ago.  Richard Pius Miles would later become the first bishop of the Diocese of Nashville.  If a family trip takes us near Nashville, we'll even visit his burial location in the basement of the church. 

Whatever our 2015 Summer Vacation destination turns out to be, it will certainly include some family history stopovers.

2014 would have been a less-productive family history research year but for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania releasing their death certificates archive to Ancestry.com.  That lifted Pennsylvania way up on the list of states where family history research is friendly.  These death certificates helped solve some family mysteries and confirm some others.  My sister-in-law and Aunt, by marriage, are two families with Ohio and Pennsylvania roots that have been made easier to research thanks to this action.  Showing them my findings are on my list in 2015.

Not everything was merely electronic in 2014.  I visited the clothing store my great great grandfather owned in Meadville, PA.  It's now a coffee shop and bakery.

There are some regrets. 

I still haven't seen or gotten a copy of the marriage certificate for Andrew Alfred Baker and Beatrice Merz my Aunt mentioned in an email a year ago.  That information sparked a breakthrough that helped me complete my five-generation family tree.  I may have to send her a digital camera with a return envelope to get a copy.  Would that be too direct?

Figuring out once and for all whether the George Platt on the Brig Niagara at the Battle of Lake Erie in September 1813 is the same George F. Platt, my third great grandfather, who served at Lake Erie with the Pennsylvania Militia is a still-unfulfilled quest.  I just recently obtained the National Archives military file for George F. Platt and there's no mention of his service to the Navy in the file.  I'm still searching though.

 

I'm still waiting for some more photos from cousins.  The Bernard Family Reunion yielded one great find, but the promise of more is on my list to get fulfilled in 2015.  I'm really hoping my Cleveland second cousin once removed finds that missing box of photos with my great great grandmother's photo(s) in it too.

 

With my five-generation family tree now complete, the never-ending quest is to go deeper into the family tree.  With less records, less headstones, and less photographs from that sixth generation and backward, that's going to be tougher to accomplish.  That's 2015 in a nutshell.

Ancestry Saturday: My Kids' Revolutionary War Patriots Bloodline Update

The plague on the south wall of the Highland County Courthouse in Hillsboro, Ohio has the names of two of my ancestors who were Revolutionary War patriots.  This is a source of pride, but those two are just a sampling of the full list.  With each passing generation of my family, the list will grow and grow.

My research, as of December 2013, showed 27 patriots in the direct blood line of my kids.  The list is now at 35 as of January 1, 2015.

Here's the updated list.

The 22 patriots from their Dad's side:

William Altman
Thomas Fleming Bernard
Charles Beaven Blandford
Elijah Charles
Joseph Conway
George Daubenspeck
John Jacob Daubenspeck
John Downing
Garrett Fiscus
William Fleming
Henry Guthrie
James Gutridge
Robert Jameson
Adam Crain Jones
John Foster Leaverton
John Jacob Muhleisen
Michael Reitenauer
Jeremiah Shontz
Daniel Smith
James Ebenezer Smith
Samuel Woodmansee
James Wygant


The 13 patriots from their Mom's side:

Thomas Adkins
Charles Booth
Zadock Bosworth
Ebenezer Cole, Jr.
Ebenezer Cole, Sr.
Samuel Ferguson
Ebenezer Gage
Charles Gatliff
James Felix McGuire
John Nay
Joshua Quance
Moses Searle
Daniel Walton

I've given my kids a head start.  I bet they can find more some day.

Ancestry Saturday: More Convergence Stories

Yesterday on December 26, 130 years to the day of his death, I visited the Canton, Ohio gravesite of my third cousin, five times removed.  Cornelius Aultman and I shared Jacob and Anna Marie (Eisenmann) Altman in our blood lines.  They are his great great grandparents and they are my seventh great grandparents.

That wouldn't be all that convergent--being there on the same day 130 years later--but for the fact that it was his land, in 1891 after his death, that became the land for a hospital in Canton.  Aultman Hospital is a well known institution, to this day, in Canton and Stark County.

It also happens to be where I was born.

There's more convergence.  Right next to Aultman are two more graves.

His daughter, Elizabeth (Aultman) Harter's husband was George D. Harter.  He's buried there too.  And he's the one who started another Stark County, Ohio institution, Geo D Harter Bank.

That was my first bank and where I kept the check book for my newspaper route when I was in the fifth grade.

Convergence.