Today, while browsing through the books on Germany in the Suzzallo Library, I discovered an important book to help me understand why my ancestors ventured so far from home. The book primarily covers the years 1887 and 1888, and events leading up to what the author describes as an imperial succession crisis. The subtitle provides [...]
Archive for the ‘Surnames’ Category
Today I met a cousin of mine. We met at the Seattle Public Library. Although we had originally planned to meet on the University of Washington campus, I happened to be downtown for a morning meeting, so we met up on the ninth floor of the spacious central library. The main genealogy collection is on [...]
Yesterday I received a message from a woman about her brother. Hi Aaron, I commented on your blog post about Karl Kaaz but WordPress won’t let me follow up. My brother farmed some Fromke land. Was your grandparents’ place south of Mazeppa Church? I forwarded her message to my mother, who wrote me back. [...]
The Social Security Death Index, often abbreviated as SSDI, is a useful tool for any family historian. Unfortunately however, some feds got worked up about identity theft and control of information, and access has been restricted or removed from certain sites, including RootsWeb.1 Today though, someone posted on a mailing list a site where it remains accessible without requiring registration and [...]
A fellow descendant of the Boal family, a woman named Dee, sent me a note the other day. We have been corresponding back and forth since. In the 19th century her family was living near mine in Washington County, Iowa, unbeknownst to any of us, until now. Hi, I saw where you posted the grave of William [...]
Just days after my aunt died in February, one of the cousins passed as well, also from cancer. Dan Hay was his name. Son of Everett and Grace, he was a colorful character. For years he worked as a drywall man, lugging sheet rock and spreading “mud” around at construction sites in Oregon and Alaska. [...]
Here’s an interesting tidbit on my Darling ancestors. Is this the place where Ezra Darwin Darling was born in 1830? Jabez DARLING settled the Peter C. SWARTS farm. At the expiration of a year, Reuben HUFF bought him out.” The land is located near the town of Canadice in Ontario County, New York. The information [...]
In September of 2009 I requested some information about Presbyterians in Pennsylvania. I sent a message via email to the Presbyterian Historical Society, which is part of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Is there a list of Pennsylvania churches available with mircofilm records? I am interested in records for 1763. I was specifically looking for birth records, hoping that I might [...]
Before it is taken down, I want to preserve the comments and memories folks have submitted to my aunt’s memorial page. The first to write something was Linda McIntyre of Winfred, South Dakota, one of my Aunt Carol’s cousins. Carol and I spent many happy times growing up near each other in South Dakota. Ballgames (she was a [...]
A German at Castle Garden in 1887
Posted: March 5, 2012 in FROMKE, Germany, LENTZ, New York, United StatesOne of my automated alerts sent this to my inbox just now. Although whatever it is was uploaded today, the document has been deleted, which is frustrating because I’d like to read and see it in its entirety. My great grandparents were German, arriving on a ship and processed through the Castle Garden immigration depot in 1887. [...]
