Successful Genealogy Is in the Details

This post began as a tribute to my 3rd great-uncle who lost both his wife and newborn son in the 1880s, but it has turned into a good lesson about the importance of slowing down and paying attention to details. If you read a lot of other blogs like I do, you've probably heard multiple times that you should understand every collection that you search. Yeah, yeah, an obvious tip meant for newbies. Not so. It's a mistake I made, even though I should have known better.

My uncle, Thomas Baker, was born in Canada on February 1, 1857. To be more specific, his baptismal record from St. Patrick in Caledonia, Ontario, states that he was born in "the township of Seneca of the Mission of Indiana." Sometime before the age of 10, Thomas crossed the border with his parents and siblings and settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

In his 20s, Thomas met Maggie Olive Barnett (sometimes recorded as Burnett), got married, and had son John Wesley Baker in 1885. But the couple's lives together ended tragically. In 1888, their second son Allen was born in April and died in November of gastroenteritis. Then Maggie died six months later in 1889 of phthisis pulmonalis (tuberculosis).

Thomas raised his son as a single dad in Pittsburgh until he married Virginia Irwin Wilson on February 9, 1894, in Jefferson County, Ohio. With this marriage, he became the stepfather of two teen girls. The family stayed in Pittsburgh for a while, but then left for Glendale, California. One of Virginia's daughters had moved there with her ill husband and, when he died in 1921, it appears that her parents and sister decided to join her.

Thomas and Virginia were together for more than 30 years, until her death in 1927. I assumed that both died in California since that's where they're buried, but I wanted to see their death certificates to be sure. FamilySearch has images of California death certificates in its collection called "California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994." On the search page, I entered the names of both Thomas and Virginia but didn't find them in the list of results.

Then I read the description of the collection at the top of the page, which included this sentence at the very end: "The name index for death records covers Stockton, Lodi and Manteca cities and San Benito and San Joaquin counties." Clearly, I would have to browse the collection to find the Bakers' death certificates. It took a couple of steps, but I did find both of them.

California Death Certificate (partial), Thomas Baker, 1937
[CLICK TO VIEW LARGER]

It was definitely a good reminder for me to slow down and focus on the details. All of us should take time to understand exactly what records are provided in each collection. Even though I remember reading this tip more than once on other blogs, I skipped this important step. The bottom line: there is so much we can learn from each other. Thank you, fellow bloggers!

Surname Spellings May Require Creative Searches

Are your ancestors hidden in the shadows because their names are misspelled in records? All of us have probably faced this issue at some point in our research.

Before Louise Binkert married her second husband, my 2nd great-uncle, her life in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, seemed to be a mystery. Her 1925 death certificate and obituary indicate that her maiden name was Binkert, but I couldn't find her in the census records. Binkert doesn't seem to be a difficult name, right? But I was surprised by the spelling variations that I eventually found.

My uncle's military pension file contained a copy of their 1905 marriage certificate, which shows that Louise's name was Ofhouse, the surname of her first husband. That clue led to her 1883 marriage record from the West End United Church of Christ. Louise's surname was handwritten as "Bankart." Thinking that this earlier record might have the correct spelling, I searched for "Bankart" and "B*nk*rt" but still couldn't find her in the 1870 and 1880 censuses.

Louise's death certificate shows that her father was "Hanson Binkert." I couldn't find that name in any of the censuses either. In fact, the only match was a Pennsylvania death certificate for a Mary Binkert Geartner which shows her father was Hanson. I searched for other Binkert deaths in Pennsylvania and found that their fathers were recorded as "Ansom" and "Anson." Both of these spellings also appear in several Pittsburgh city directories next to his widow's listing. But there is one that says she was the widow of "Anslem." Finally a breakthrough!

I found the Binkert family in 1880 after several different searches using wildcards. Louise was listed as "Louis Benket" and her father was "Anslen Benket." Below is the list of various spellings of Binkert that I found in records for Louise's parents and siblings:

• Bankart
• Bankerd
• Bankert
• Beankart
• Benkert
• Benket
• Bunkert
• Renhert

At the risk of making this post way too long, I must share that Louise had one sister whose married name was completely botched as well. I'm still not sure at this point what the correct spelling is! The marriage record for Maggie Binkert shows that she married John Thuering. The 1900 census recorded it as Thuring. Her death certificate shows her surname as Tiering. Since Maggie's cause of death was tragic (her clothes caught on fire), I searched Pittsburgh newspapers for those surnames but couldn't find the story.

I tried searching newspapers for her address that's listed on her death certificate but had no luck. Then I searched for "Allegheny General," which was the hospital where she died, the word "fire," and the year 1909. There were four news stories about Maggie's accident, and her surname was spelled as "Theeny," "Theney," "Therry, and "Theery." I never would have found those spellings!

Whether looking at all family members for clues, using wildcards, or searching for addresses and key words other than surname, it's often necessary to think creatively in order to discover your hidden relatives.

FamilySearch Find: Deaths in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania

Are you overlooking some online records at FamilySearch? Here's one example of a digitized non-indexed collection that isn't on the site's list of published collections.

Image from end of death register book,
Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, 1891

Allegheny City in Pennsylvania wasn't annexed by Pittsburgh until 1907, so deaths for both cities were recorded separately prior to that time. That means if you look at the FamilySearch collection "Pittsburgh City Deaths, 1870-1905," you won't find my Uncle Emil's 1903 death record. While there doesn't appear to be a similar death record collection for Allegheny City, it is in fact on the site and available for online viewing.

My French 3rd great-uncle, Emile Wey, arrived in the United States in 1871. Known as Emil in America, he would marry, have 6 children, and build a life in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania. Emil died in Allegheny City on May 4, 1903, which was provided by his newspaper obituary. Knowing exactly when he died is fantastic, but I wanted to know why he died at the young age of 54.

If you click on "Browse all published collections" on the FamilySearch site, you won't see a record set for Allegheny City deaths. But FamilySearch actually does have these records digitized and available to browse in its collection called "Registrations of deaths in the city of Allegheny, 1876-1907." Each listed record group with a picture of a camera under "Format" means it can be viewed online. (A reel means you have to order the microfilm for viewing at your local Family History Center.)

Glancing at the thumbnail images will give you a sense of where the handwritten surname index starts for each volume; it's usually somewhere in the middle and not at the beginning or end due to the way the book scans were saved. And sometimes there's a second index further down in the same file where the next book of death records begins. You can use these indexes to locate the page number of the death record.

My Uncle Emil did indeed die on May 4, 1903, due to "abcess [sic] of liver." The record also states that he had resided at 707 Middle Street in the 3rd Ward for 30 years and that he was buried in St. Peter's Cemetery on May 7th (although a photo of his headstone on FindAGrave indicates that he's in Highwood Cemetery).

By browsing for other relatives, I found cousin August Huber who died in 1882 at 7 weeks of age due to eclampsia, as well as another cousin's father-in-law who died in 1903 of "mania a potu" or madness from drinking. I had their dates of death from other sources (church record for the first and a newspaper obituary for the second), but now I have more details, including where they are buried.

Be sure to search the FamilySearch Catalog for your ancestors' towns to see if digitized images are available. As this example shows, some online records don't appear on the published collections list.

Note: "Registration of births in the city of Allegheny, 1878-1907" is also available on FamilySearch, although five years are missing.

Distracted by Maryland's Online Indices

I've always considered myself to be organized and a planner, but some days I'm easily distracted. Does this happen to you, too? Over the weekend, I found some new family facts by browsing Maryland's online vital record indices. But I can't even remember how I ended up there...

I was researching a lead in the hopes it would shed some light on my 2nd great-grandfather's German town of origin. Two brothers with the same unusual surname as my ancestor arrived in the U.S. from Frankfurt in the late 1920s and settled in New York and then New Jersey. That was more than 70 years after the arrival of my ancestor, but the lead looked promising.

How I got from there to Maryland is a mystery to me! I somehow stumbled upon the Maryland State Archives website and saw it had links to scanned indices for vital records. I don't have many family connections to Maryland, but I remembered that my 2nd great-aunt had a brother-in-law who lived in Maryland starting in the 1860s. I couldn't help but see what I could find about Franz "Frank" Nehren. Was it important to my family research? No. Could I resist this temptation? NO.

Since the indices aren't searchable, I had to use some logic to narrow down the years and county that I needed to browse. I started by looking for his marriage. All I knew was that Franz married a woman named Lizetta and that their first child was born in Maryland in 1865. By 1870, the Nehren family was living in Baltimore.

I used the Baltimore City marriage index for males for 1851-1885 and clicked on the link for the surnames "Moore to Owens." I was excited to see that it wasn't just a list of the couples' names and date of marriage. The file contained scans of cards with a little more detail than I expected, like this one below:

Interestingly, the marriage I wanted (below) was mostly blank! It didn't even show the marriage date. However, it did provide me with one fact I didn't have yet: the bride's maiden name.

Baltimore City marriage record of Franz Nehren & Lisette Gardner, 1863

Next, I decided to look for Franz's death. A Baltimore city directory showed that Elizabeth Nehren was a widow by 1885. The last city directory that mentioned Franz as living seemed to be 1883. Although the Archives website is a little confusing in places, I found my way to the online Baltimore City Death Index for 1875-1972. I scrolled down to the letter 'N' and clicked on the link for 1875-1888. Franz H. Nehren died on Dec 5, 1883, and the index provides the certificate number, volume, and page in case I want to order a copy.

Franz was only 41 when he died, so it's possible that Lisette remarried. I couldn't find her in the death indices under Nehren. If she did remarry, I would need the surname of her second husband to make it easier to locate her marriage since the female index isn't online.

Sometimes it's fun to get distracted! Please post a comment if you've ever found anything interesting when your research got side-tracked.

Doctor Who Buried His Teenage Son

Harold W. Thomas was a physician for 53 years in Arnold, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. He was married to my husband's 3rd cousin 2 times removed, Agnes May Cowden.

Harold was born April 10, 1902, to parents Abraham & Clara Thomas. After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh's medical school in 1928, he opened his own practice in his hometown of Arnold. He also served as the school doctor for the New Kensington-Arnold School District, a position he held for 40 years while running his medical practice.

His first child, Harold Thomas Jr., was born on March 13, 1932. But at the age of 16, his son died in Pittsburgh's Mercy Hospital from acute respiratory failure caused by virus encephalitis. It must have been difficult to help so many people during his career but be unable to save someone he loved so much. Harold Sr. had this to say about his son's death in an article published by The Pittsburgh Press about his retirement in 1982:

    "'You accept older people dying,' he said, 'but the deaths of younger people are the hardest things for a doctor to absorb. They cause many sleepless nights. But you learn to accept death as an act of God if you've done your best.'

    Thomas hails the new drugs and technology, which might have saved his own son, Harold Jr., who died from polio at age 16 in 1948. 'I gave him all the remedies, but neither the Salk nor the Sabin vaccines were available,' he said. 'It was only a few years after he died that they were developed.'"

Harold W. Thomas Sr. died 35 years after his son on May 17, 1983, in Pittsburgh's Allegheny General Hospital. Father and son are buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania. Of all of his accomplishments, it's likely that Harold Sr. was most proud of his children. It's sad that he lost one so young.

Death Caused by Joy (or Not)

The Pittsburg Press,
April 17, 1908 

I came across this article on Newspapers.com while searching for stories about someone in my family tree. I guess it's another reminder that we shouldn't believe everything we read in newspapers.

Andy Wig of Lorain, Ohio, died suddenly in Duquesne, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, on April 12, 1908. This is how the newspaper explained his death:

     "Wig and his wife had been separated for three months until Sunday, when he came here from Lorain to try and be reconciled with her. After a short time they adjusted their differences and decided to return to Lorain and start life anew. They packed their trunk and were making their way to the station when he became suddenly sick as he was passing No. 202 River avenue. He went into the house for a short time, followed by his wife five minutes later, who found him dead.
     Deputy Coroner John Black, who investigated the case, found that he died from joy. His wife was at the services this morning and she wept bitterly."

I couldn't help myself and just had to take a look at Andy's Pennsylvania death certificate. I'm sure you're not surprised to learn that he didn't die from joy. The coroner indicated that his death was caused by acute indigestion.

Andy was about 33 years old and was buried in Highwood Cemetery in Pittsburgh.

Check for Pennsylvania Birth & Death Indices

For those of us with Pennsylvania ancestors, it was exciting when Ancestry provided access to two vital record collections: Pennsylvania Birth Records, 1906-1908, and Pennsylvania Death Certificates, 1906-1963. I spent many hours searching those databases and finding great information, including learning about previously unknown cousins who had been born and then died young between the 1900 and 1910 censuses. And I continue to access these collections today.

However, since it's unclear when additional years may be added by Ancestry, keep in mind that the PDFs of the indices may be helpful too. These listings provide the birth name, maiden name of mother (father isn't in the index), the birth town or city, and date of birth.

Sample from Pennsylvania Birth Index, 1909

The Pennsylvania birth and death indices are maintained by the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission, and legislation allows the release of a new year annually. Birth records are made public 105 years after a person was born, and death records are released 50 years after death. So currently they have lists of births from 1906 to 1909 and deaths from 1906 to 1964. I expect a PDF of 1910 births and 1965 deaths will be added in 2016.

I recently browsed the birth index for 1909 and found some great information:

• Specific dates of birth, which can then lead to additional information such as military records that match the birth date, or perhaps death certificates - I located the 1909 birth listing for a Zewe cousin which, after entering the date into Ancestry, led me to a death certificate match with her spouse's surname and a new branch of my tree containing their Kyle children;
• Correct places of birth - the death certificate for one of my husband's Cowden cousins says he was born in Hickory, Washington County, Pennsylvania, while the birth index shows he was actually born in neighboring Cross Creek Township;
• Missing maiden names of mothers - I found the birth date of the husband of a great-aunt (previously only known to be "abt 1909"), as well as the maiden name of his mother; this then led to the certificate for her death due to breast cancer at the age of 35, which provided his father's name;
• Original given names - my grandmother's 1909 birth listing in the index shows her given name as Marian H. instead of the Helen Marian she used later in life; this doesn't seem to be unusual (at least for my family!) since my grandfather John Baptist was recorded as John Harold at his birth in 1908 and his brother Roy was actually named Jacob Ray in 1906.

Don't forget to check back annually to see when the next index has been added, and request a copy of any certificates that may advance your research. These Pennsylvania indices may provide the clue that leads you to additional information about one or more of your relatives.

UPDATE: The indices of 1910 births and 1965 deaths have been posted.

My Great-Grandmother's Undertaker, Harry Brooks

Former Undertaking Business
2726 E. Carson Street, Pittsburgh
(Image from Google Maps)

When I first started researching my family, one ancestor who fascinated me was my great-grandmother Albertina. She had died in her 30s of influenza during 1918 and left behind three young children. There was also mystery: the state health department didn't have a record of her death certificate; she couldn't be found in any cemeteries, and a lifelong resident of the South Side area of Pittsburgh told me about rumors of bodies being buried in mass graves during the epidemic.

When I finally received Albertina's death certificate (it had been indexed under the wrong letter), I studied it for every possible detail about her life. And I was relieved to see the name and address of an undertaker and the cemetery where she had been buried. He was "H. Brooks" located at "2726 Carson." I became curious to know more about him and, since I didn't know his first name, I searched for his address in Google Books. I found the following excerpt in the 1922 book, History of Pittsburgh and Environs:

   "HARRY BROOKS--The undertaking business now conducted by Harry Brooks at No. 2726 Carson street is one of the oldest in Pittsburgh, South Side. It was established by John Bittner, in 1877, and with the exception of the improvements Mr. Brooks has made, and the change from horses to motors, is about the same as Mr. Bittner left it. Mr. Bittner conducted a livery barn in connection with his undertaking business, and that has been changed to a garage. Another change is in the amount of business done, that having largely increased. Harry Brooks was born in Pittsburgh, on Christmas Day, 1868, son of Harry and Helen (Vose) Brooks, his father deceased since 1894, his mother yet living at the age of seventy-one. Harry (1) Brooks came from England when a boy of thirteen, and was one of the old time glass blowers of Pittsburgh, working in several of the old historic plants. Harry (2) Brooks attended public schools, and when old enough learned glass blowing, but about the year 1882 became an employee of John Bittner, the undertaker and after becoming a proficient assistant became Mr. Bittner's business manager, continuing with him in that capacity for twenty-five years. He then succeeded Mr. Bittner in business and still continues in the same location. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the Fraternal Order of Eagles, serving the last named as trustee. In politics he is a Republican.

   Mr. Brooks married, Dec. 31, 1896, Rose Bittner, and they have three living children: Harry, born 1906; Mildred, born 1908; William, born 1912. Two children, John and Marion, died in childhood, John aged five years, Marion three years. Mr. Brooks has three sisters living; Mrs. Emma Barton, of Toledo, Ohio; Estella, of Pioneer, Ohio; Mrs. Jeannette Swearer, of New York City."

I know that learning about Harry Brooks does nothing to advance my family research, but I still think it's interesting to know more about a man who would have come in contact with many Pittsburghers during his long career. And he would have spoken with my great-grandfather during a very difficult time.

Family's 3 Tragedies Due to Carbolic Acid

My family has a handful of photos of my 2nd great-grandmother, Mary Baker Klein (1855-1932), posing at various times outdoors when she was in her 60s and 70s. She doesn't look like a particularly warm or friendly woman (though it's hard to tell from those old photos!), and there's only one photo where her eyes seem to sparkle a little. But after learning more about her, I can look at these photos a little differently and with admiration that she found the strength to get through a very dark period in her life.

Mary and the Baker branch of my family tree had to deal with the tragedy of carbolic acid poisoning three times. Carbolic acid was used as a disinfectant and sometimes was accidentally ingested which caused death. According to the following newspaper article, this is what happened to Irene Kaufmann, the daughter of one of the men who ran the famous Kaufmann's department store in Pittsburgh. She thought she was taking "headache medicine."

The Pittsburgh Post, July 24, 1907

In the case of my relatives, the poisoning appears to have been intentional. Young Mary and her family moved from Canada to the United States around 1866 and settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mary married Jacob Klein 10 years later and had 11 children. During a 3-year period in the 1910s, Mary and her siblings had to mourn the deaths of three family members due to carbolic acid poisoning:

• Mary's brother, John H. Baker, died on March 15, 1912 at the age of 38 in Braddock, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. His death certificate says simply, "suicide by taking carbolic acid."
• Mary's nephew and the son of her sister Sushannah, Albert Parrish Jr., died the same year on September 13, 1912. Sadly, his second child had just been born the previous year. A newspaper article and the coroner's report indicate that he was despondent due to lack of employment as a chain maker. His death certificate states his cause of death was "carbolic acid poisoning, suicide while temporarily insane."
• Mary's brother-in-law, James H. Stuart, who was married to her sister Sarah Baker, died on May 21, 1915. His death certificate indicates that he was found in Braddock in a box car of the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie railroad and that the cause of death was "carbolic acid poisoning (probably suicide)."

It must have been extremely difficult for Mary and her family to deal with such terrible tragedies so, when I look at photographs of her now, I see a woman of great strength.

Photograph: Identifying a Police Officer

I found the photograph below in a small box that belonged to my grandmother. There's an 'X' by the feet of one of the police officers, and on the back is just a surname: "Scheppner."

My great-grandfather was a policeman, and he married Christina Schoeppner in 1921 after his first wife died. So my first thought was that this was her father. But all records for Joseph Schoeppner showed that he was a laborer.

Christina also had three brothers--Joseph, Herman, and Michael Schoeppner--so I took a look at each of them. The younger Joseph was a mill worker and then became a grocer. Herman died when he was 16 years old. Michael was a steel worker in the 1900 census, and I couldn't find him in 1910.

So I put the photo away and forgot about it.

But then when I was recently searching for the surname Schoeppner on Newspapers.com, I came across an article that reminded me of that photograph:

The Pittsburg Post, May 11, 1905

I pulled up Michael's record in my database and saw that I didn't have a record of his death. I searched the Pennsylvania death certificates on Ancestry.com and found out that he died on December 22, 1913 of influenza and pneumonia. Michael's occupation? Police officer.

It's such a great feeling to be able to identify family members in old photographs!

Note: A report on Pittsburgh, which included an evaluation of the city's police force, was published in 1913, the same year Michael Schoeppner died. It was titled, The City of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania: Report on a Survey of the Department of Public Health, and I found this section very interesting:

"Policemen receive no training whatever for their work. The moment a patrolman has been appointed he is assigned to duty and little or no instruction is given him. He is required to learn the duties of his office as best he can or, as the authorities in charge of the bureau put it, 'by experience.' He is not even placed under the charge of an older patrolman or required to perform duty with him for a definite number of days so as to become familiar with the merest routine. ... Policemen are given revolvers to use without a single lesson in target practice."

Related Post:

• Photograph: Genealogy Mystery 

Did a Father's Death Lead to Sons' Mental Illness?

When we discover mental illness in our family trees, it may raise a lot of questions. And there are just some things that genealogy won't be able to answer. Mental illness may run in families, so a parent may pass it on to children. However, it may also be triggered by a traumatic event, and a suicide would be considered awful enough to have an impact on any family. We can only guess at the cause of a relative's mental illness.

Jacob Steimer, the nephew of my 3rd great-grandmother Barbara Steimer Klein, was 44 when he shot himself in the back yard of his Carrick, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania home. His death appeared as front page news in 1915: "Steiner [sic] went home and found his wife preparing to go to the home of her mother. He asked for forgiveness. His pleas fell on unheeding ears, it is said, and Steiner [sic] obtained his shot gun and aimed at his wife. She fled when the trigger failed to explode the cartridge in the gun."

The Pittsburgh Post, June 14, 1915
(CLICK ON IMAGE TO VIEW LARGER}

Jacob and Anna Kramer Steimer were married in 1896 had two sons, Edward and Lawrence, who would have been teenagers when their father killed himself. Both of them appear to have struggled with mental illness during their lifetimes.

Edward Steimer's World War I draft registration card in 1918 shows him unemployed at the age of 21 and described as "mentally deficient."

World War I Draft Registration Card, Edward Steimer, 1918

Later, in the 1920 census, Edward was working as an elevator boy in an office building but, by 1930, he was a patient in the Pittsburgh City Home and Hospital at Mayview in South Fayette, Allegheny County. Edward was still there in 1940, and his brother Lawrence was now institutionalized with him. Edward's 1943 death certificate mentions nothing about mental illness but shows that he suffered with pulmonary tuberculosis for 2 years before he died of it at the Woodville State Hospital in Collier Township, Allegheny County.

The second son, Lawrence, was working in 1918 as a driver for the Pittsburgh Terminal Railroad & Coal Co. in Castle Shannon, Allegheny County, at the age of 18. By 1920, he was a coal miner. I haven't been able to find him or his mother in 1930 (when his brother was in an institution), but his 1940 census record shows that he was still in Carrick in 1935. Lawrence's 1941 death certificate shows that he died of tuberculosis of the lungs at Mayveiw State Hospital and that he suffered from syphilis and schizophrenia.

Pennsylvania Death Certificate, Lawrence Steimer, March 10, 1941

Edward and Lawrence are both buried in South Side Cemetery in Pittsburgh. I haven't found out what happened to their mother yet.

The Kiefer Children Died Too Young

My 3rd great-aunt, Philippina Klein, married Peter Kiefer in Pittsburgh on January 30, 1889. By 1910, they had 8 children but only 4 were living. Even the four children who would become adults died before the age of 50. Sadly, the parents had to see six of their children buried before they died themselves in 1927 and 1936.

St. Peter's Cemetery, Mt. Oliver area of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
(Reprinted with permission from Roseanne Kocinski-Fowler)

Here are the Kiefer children:

1. Clement James Kiefer (1890-1938) - Clement left behind wife Ethel and daughters Dorothy and Ruth when he died at the age of 47 of coronary disease and chronic nephritis;
2. Marcella Kiefer (1891-1896) - Marcella was only 5 years old when she died of burns; she was an unknown cousin until I found the newspaper article below;
3. Alfred William Kiefer (1893-1920) - Alfred was 27 when he died at his parents' home of pulmonary edema;
4. Loretta B. Kiefer (1895-1922) - Loretta was only married to Louis Schanck for a year or two when she died at the age of 26 of cardiac exhaustion and edema of the lungs;
5. Paul Peter Kiefer (1903-1945) - Paul was the last surviving sibling and died in Pittsburgh at the age of 41 of malignant hypertension; he left behind his wife Cecilia and children, Paul and Loretta;
6. Unknown Kiefer - died by 1900 census;
7. Unknown Kiefer - died by 1900 census;
8. Unknown Kiefer - died by 1910 census

The Pittsburgh Post, November 24, 1896

I've submitted a research request to the Diocese of Pittsburgh to find information about the three unknown young children who passed away. I hate having nameless entries in my family tree since I feel they deserve to be acknowledged and remembered. 

The Kiefer family lived on Arlington Avenue in the Lower St. Clair area of Pittsburgh, and Peter's obituary says that his funeral mass was held at St. Henry's Church. The wonderful volunteer researchers should be able to take that information to find the family starting with the 1889 marriage and trace them forward, even if they switched parishes at any point. I included information about each of the 8 children with the hope they can identify the names I'm missing.

I'll post an update when I receive the report.

Related Posts:

• Include All Information in Research Requests
• Family Immigration: Peter Klein in 1854

Ads for Missing Relatives

Missing person ads were placed in newspapers by relatives when they were trying to locate a family member. When you see one of these ads, you can't help but wonder if they ever got the information they hoped for.

Here is one placed in a Pennsylvania newspaper by Sarah Bliss Whiteway of Devon, England, who was searching for her brother, William Bliss, in the United States:

The Wilkes-Barre Record, January 19, 1909

This next ad was looking for a traveling salesman from Pittsburgh, John Franklin Llewellyn, who disappeared four years earlier. There are two family trees on Ancestry.com that have no additional information about him after 1900, so it's possible he was was never found.

Harrisburg Daily Independent, March 17, 1906

Michael Kundratouch disappeared on a Sunday in 1921, and the ad below was placed in the newspaper on Friday of that same week. I found his Pennsylvania death certificate on Ancestry.com, so at least his family found out what happened, although it was not good news. The death record for "Mike Kundratouich" indicates that he was a coal miner from Russia, and it looks like his body was found on March 16, 1922, since that's the date the deputy coroner viewed the body. Cause of death was "Drowned, probably accidental, found in Monongahela river at Coal Bluff."

The Daily Republican (Monongahela, Pennsylvania), December 9, 1921

Related Post:  Sadly, Research Doesn't Find All Answers

A Cousin Afflicted by Polio

I feel strongly that relatives in our family tree with no descendants deserve to be remembered. I am especially troubled by the young children who were born and died in between censuses. Their existence may be overlooked entirely. But for adults, too, who didn't marry and didn't have children of their own, I think it's important for us to find as much as we can about them as well. Their lives are worth remembering.

While researching my 3rd great-grandmother's brother, Andrew Steimer, I found something interesting in his 1902 will. It seems to indicate that his son, John, had some kind of accident and needed care from family members:

"I desire that my estate remain as it is as long as my wife survive [sic] me and at her decease I desire that my real estate and personal property of whatever kind and wherever found be divided equally among my three children namely Andrew, John and Barbara, the share of John to be in the care and custody of my executor herein after named and to be used only for the care and comfort of my son John and should my son Andrew and my daughter Barbara fail to care for my son John then I will that they receive one dollar each and all the rest and residue of my estate I give to my son John under an administrator appointed by the Court."

I looked at John's census records for 1900-1930 and didn't see any clues as to why he would need care, other than he did not work. He also could not read or write, but his siblings could, so he must have been kept home from school. Then I found his World War I draft registration card, which indicated he was 34 years old and an invalid.

Finally, his Pennsylvania death certificate from April 27, 1938, shows that he died at the age of 53 of a cerebral hemorrhage. In the occupation section, it indicated "None" and "Crippled." Most importantly, under "Other contributory causes of importance" related to his death, the doctor wrote: "Polio myelitis from early childhood. Invalid all his life."

At some point when he was a child, John Steimer was struck with polio. According to The College of Physicians of Philadelphia:

"Few diseases frightened parents more in the early part of the 20th century than polio did. Polio struck in the warm summer months, sweeping through towns in epidemics every few years. Though most people recovered quickly from polio, some suffered temporary or permanent paralysis and even death. Many polio survivors were disabled for life. They were a visible, painful reminder to society of the enormous toll this disease took on young lives."

The book, Passage through Crisis: Polio Victims and Their Families, which I found in the HathiTrust Digital Library, backs up this assessment: "A disease may be feared on account of its causing death, but a disease which permits the patient to live in an enfeebled condition is even more dreaded and its occurrence in a community makes a much deeper impression."

It's not surprising that John's father wanted to ensure that his son was cared for after his death. Both parents were gone by 1910, and I'm happy to report that John's siblings took care of him as their father wished. In the 1930 census, eight years before John's death, siblings Andrew and Barbara, as well as two additional brothers named Peter and William, were living with John. These four siblings, in their 50s and 60s, were single, so perhaps they sacrificed their chance at marrying and having children to take care of their brother.

All of these Steimers, with no descendants of their own, stuck together and definitely had lives that mattered.

Related Posts:

• Sadly, Research Doesn't Find All Answers
• More Pennsylvania Death Certificates Online 
• Family Birth: Alice Huber in 1905

A Family Death on the Day of Her Birth

My husband's great-grandmother, Gertrude Kress, was born in Germany on June 16, 1862. Although she would live a long life, it's sad to know that she died on her birthday.

Gertrude decided to move to America and left her parents at the age of 19. She arrived in Baltimore on July 9, 1881, and seemed to be traveling alone. She probably knew someone living in the U.S. because she indicated she was headed to Pennsylvania.

Two years later, she was married to Casper Kaufman, a farmer living in Washington County, Pennsylvania. They would have at least 10 children together.

Gertrude became a citizen of the U.S. when her husband was naturalized on June 1, 1911. His naturalization petition on Ancestry.com is a great record because it lists the name, birth date, and place of birth for eight of their children.

In 1946, Gertrude was living with one of her daughters, Mary Kaufman Cowden, in Clairton, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, when she died on her birthday at the age of 84. She is buried with Casper in Raccoon Church Cemetery in Candor, Washington County, Pennsylvania. You can view their headstone on Find A Grave.

Is Frederick Waldschmidt My Uncle?

Frederick Waldschmidt

In a previous post, I mentioned that I am still searching for records to identify the parents of my great-grandmother, Alice Laubersheimer Huber. Oral history from family indicates that they are Fritz Laubersheimer and Caroline Waldschmidt, but I have no proof.

The 1899 passenger record that I believe is for Alice shows an "Elise Laubersheimer" of the right age traveling to her final destination of "Pittsburg, Pa." The record indicates that her passage was paid by her uncle and that she was planning on joining her "uncle: Fred. Waldschmidt" in Allegheny, Pennsylvania.

Since I was hoping that this connection between Alice and Frederick would lead me to her parents, I searched for more information on Frederick. A biography and the photo above appear in the 1897 book "City of Allegheny, Pa: Illustrations and Sketches of the Banking, Wholesale and Manufacturing Interests and the Representative Professional Interests of Allegheny County":

"Frederick Waldschmidt, alderman, was born June 26, 1848, in Elsass, then a part of France. He was educated in the public schools of his country and began a business life in connection with a manufactory of boots and shoes. He was a soldier in the army of France, in the Franco-Prussian war, and for valor on the battlefield, was made a sergeant-major. After his arrival in this country he engaged in the insurance and real estate business. Before coming to Allegheny he served as tax collector, justice of the peace and borough treasurer of Glenfield borough, Allegheny county. Since residing here he has served in council. Mr. Waldschmidt was married January 17, 1878, to Magdalena Teutenberg. He is one of Allegheny's substancial [sic] citizens, and enjoys the confidence of many who are honored by his acquaintance. He is secretary of the Allegheny building association, and a director of the German National building and loan association, and not only takes great interest in these organizations, but is one of the best posted men on building association affairs in the United States. His office is at 157 Ohio Street. Mr. Waldschmidt is a member of Voegtly's Church."

Frederick died on April 15, 1918, and I found a great clue on his Pennsylvania death certificate. It states that he was born in Gerstheim, Alsace, France, and that his father Daniel was born in Goersdorf, Alsace, France. Since many French records are online, I hoped that I could find Frederick's birth record and, by browsing other years, see if he had a sister named Caroline Waldschmidt.

In the online Bas-Rhin Archives, I found Frederick's French birth record for June 26, 1848, in Gerstheim to parents Daniel Waldschmidt and Elisabeth Frauenfelder:

I also found birth records from Gerstheim for two sisters, Salome (1845) and Madeleine (1846). Additional siblings were born in Boofzheim, France: Salome (1856), Sophie (1858), Auguste (1860), and Edouard (1862). No Caroline. There is a gap of eight years between Frederick's birth in 1848 and the second Salome in 1856, so there could have been another move during that period. I browsed nearby towns and haven't found anything yet.

So I still don't know if Frederick Waldschmidt is a relative, but I will keep looking in the hope that it leads me to the names of Alice Laubersheimer's parents.

Two notes:

1. There is an Illinois death record for a Daniel Waldschmidt that shows he is another sibling of Frederick since their parent names match. Daniel's birth is shown to have been in "Straussberg, Germany" in 1854.
2. The Pennsylvania marriage license application of Alice's half sister, Anna Laubersheimer, shows Anna's parents were Phillip Laubersheimer and Fredericka "Wallsmith." So, while I've always assumed they had the same father, it's possible that they share the same mother who married another Laubersheimer.

Related Posts:

• Family Clues in Birth Certificates
• Family Birth: Alice Huber in 1905
• Who Was Your Ancestor's Employer?

My Relative, a Catholic Nun

On this day in 1884, my 2nd great-grandfather's sister, Margaretha "Maggie" Klein, entered the Order of St. Francis and then became known as Sister Genevieve. Her obituary contains some great details, so her order must have kept good records.

Convent of Sisters of St. Francis, Millvale, Pennsylvania
From The Catholic Church in the United States of America, 1914

Sister Genevieve outlived all of her siblings and died at the age of 85. She worked as a school teacher and then as a nurse at both St. Francis Hospital in Pittsburgh and New Castle Hospital in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. Her obituary appeared in New Castle News on April 11, 1949:

Burial Held For Sister Genevieve

Sister of St. Francis Order, Formerly of New Castle Hospital Taken By Death

Word has been received here of the death of Sister Mary Genevieve Klein, of the Sisters of St. Francis, Mt. Alvernia, Millvale, who died last Tuesday, April 5, in St. Francis hospital, Pittsburgh, Pa. Sister Genevieve had been ill for several years.

Sister Genevieve entered the Order of St. Francis March 25, 1884 and was invested with the Franciscan habit on July 14, 1884. She pronounced her perpetual vows on September 24, 1888. On March 1934 Sister Genevieve celebrated her Golden Jubilee.

Since 1926, she had been stationed on active duty in the New Castle hospital, this city, where she remained until her health began to fail several years ago. She returned to Pittsburgh four months ago.

Born in Pittsburgh, March 25, 1864, Sister Genevieve was the daughter of the late Peter and Barbara Steimer Klein. She was the last member of her family.

A solemn requiem mass was offered in her home, in St. Francis chapel, Mt. Alvernia, Pittsburgh, last Friday morning. Burial was in Mt. Alvernia cemetery, Millvale, Pa.

Setting the Record Straight: Virginia Proctor Powell Florence

The original purpose of this post was to highlight a great Pittsburgher: Virginia Proctor Powell Florence. But as I looked at some of the summaries of her life, I found an opportunity to emphasize the importance of checking facts and the need to sometimes "set the record straight."

First, here's a little bit about the life of Virginia Proctor Powell Florence. Virginia was born in October 1897 in the Wilkinsburg area of Pittsburgh. Her life is notable because she was the first black female to receive a degree in library science. Virginia graduated from Oberlin College in Ohio in 1919 and then applied to the Carnegie Library School (now the University of Pittsburgh's School of Library & Information Sciences). Her acceptance into the program was no small feat.

After her graduation in 1923, she went on to work in high schools located in Brooklyn, New York; Washington, DC; and Richmond, Virginia. Her husband, Charles Wilbur Florence, was also from Pittsburgh and received a master's degree in education, pursued a doctorate at Harvard, and was president of Lincoln University in Missouri. What a couple! The family papers of Charles & Virginia are located in the University of Pittsburgh Archives.

Wikipedia and other sources indicate that Virginia's parents both died in 1913 when she was a teenager and that she went to live with her aunt. After searching for her parents' death certificates on Ancestry.com to see what caused her to lose both parents in the same year, I discovered that the information was incorrect.

Virginia did go to live with her aunt (in her grandmother's household) since she can be found there in the 1920 census. But her widower father was still alive and living with his brother. Edward Powell lived until July 1945, and was buried in Homewood Cemetery. Virginia's signature appears on his death certificate as the informant.

I couldn't find his wife Caroline at all in the PA death certificates for 1906-1963. Since it makes sense that she might have been buried in the same cemetery as her husband, I searched Find A Grave for a Caroline Powell. There was a match in Homewood Cemetery with the death year of 1904. FamilySearch has Pittsburgh death registrations from 1870 to 1905, so I searched there and found a Carrie Powell who died in 1904. Her age, maiden name of Proctor, and Wilkinsburg residence matched. The record indicates that she died of pneumonia when Virginia was only 6 years old.

I'm not sure where the 1913 story came from, but I'm glad I checked the facts. It's important to get the story right, even though the dates of her parents' deaths are a small part in the life of a remarkable woman.

She Died at Pittsburgh's Columbia Hospital

My husband's 2nd great-grandmother, Nancy Gamble Kirkendall, died on this day in 1918. She lived in Saltsburg, Indiana County, Pennsylvania,  but was admitted to Columbia Hospital in the Wilkinsburg area of Pittsburgh for gallstone surgery. She died a few days after the operation.

Nancy was a 75-year-old widow who had lost her husband a few years earlier in 1915 due to a terrible accident. Thomas Roland Kirkendall was riding a horse home to Saltsburg from his farm in Avonmore, Westmoreland County, when he was struck by a speeding car and died of a skull fracture.

I don't know much about Columbia Hospital. In fact, I hadn't heard of it until I saw it on Nancy's death certificate. The Historic Pittsburgh website has a few publications that indicate it opened in 1906. It became part of Forbes Health System and then closed in the early 1980s after a new hospital was built across the street named Forbes Metro. (Since it existed for almost 80 years, I was clearly a self-absorbed teenager not to have heard of it!)

Thomas and Nancy had seven children, one of whom was my husband's great-grandmother, Anna Kirkendall Stewart.

Check for Coroner Records

We should remember this for all records but, when you find a death certificate, it's important to take the time to look at everything written. Reading every section could lead you to additional records you should investigate.

If the medical professional's signature indicates "coroner" after it, or it shows that an autopsy was performed, you should check for coroner records. If the death was a homicide, suicide, accidental, or of an unknown cause, there's a good chance that a coroner was called in to investigate and a file exists.

While some coroner files haven't told me anything I hadn't already found in newspaper articles, in the case of others, I learned more about my relatives' lives. For example, the 1938 report for my great-uncle John Stenglein shows that he had been living at 1101 Carson Street on the South Side of Pittsburgh for three years and had been working for the Works Progress Administration for six months. One of the witnesses in the report was his friend, Dan Sheridan, who had known John for "15 to 20 years" and was rooming with him for 3 days before his death (which was ruled as alcoholic gastroenteritis). Since I haven't been able to find John in the 1930 census and the last record I had of him was from a 1925 city directory, these extra details are very welcome.

I've had mixed success with obtaining coroner records. In Southwestern Pennsylvania, access to coroner records varies:

Allegheny County - The University of Pittsburgh Archives maintains a coroner case file database for Allegheny County. You first email its staff to request a free search for the name of your deceased relative. If they find a match, they will provide you with a file number and a link to the request form that you submit along with $12, which includes copying and mailing charges. They responded to me the day after I sent my email. Very impressive! Files I have received from them have been about 10-12 pages.

Westmoreland County - This county allows you to search online for records from the early 1900s to 1996 and provides a one-page summary of the death. The website says "[s]ome older records may not be available as they were lost, damaged or destroyed many years ago." I couldn't find any of my relatives in this database, but you can search by name (make sure you use a wildcard, like smith*) or by date. I randomly picked the date of August 10, 1912, and it retrieved four deaths. When I clicked on the first name, James J. Cushing, it showed me that he resided in New York, was 45 years old and married, and the decision by the coroner was "death due to injuries received in attempting to board a moving freight train on P.R.R. at Bradenville. Trespassing. Died in Latrobe Hospital."

Washington County - This county has been a source of frustration for me. I emailed the coroner's office a year ago and received no response. I tried again, and still no response. The third time, I think I practically begged and finally heard back from them. A woman simply stated that they did not have any records going back to the 1930s. Last month, I decided to contact the Washington County Historical Society to see if they knew if any of the records had been archived. A gentleman told me that I had been misinformed by the woman at the coroner's office and suggested that I email them again. I know you won't be surprised to hear that I'm still waiting for a response.

A quick Google search of coroner records shows that there are other states where you can search these records online, such as the Missouri Coroner's Inquest Database and Cook County [Illinois] Coroner's Inquest Record Index. FamilySearch.org also has some online coroner records, so be sure to search around to find out what's available for the locations where your ancestors died.