Cindy's Puzzle

             After my mention of the “Hill Cookbook” my cousin, Cindy, asked about some notes she has that were handwritten by Grandma Smith.  The notes are recipes used in the “Hill Cookbook”.  The cookbook was put together by the granddaughters of Eliza Coykendall Hill in 1949 and the names on the list are those of her daughters, daughters-in-law, and granddaughters. 

It is like a jigsaw puzzle dumped out on the table.  Some of the pieces are recognizable, some not so much.  We sort of know what the resulting picture will be, but not totally.  Let’s see if we can put this together.  This is not intended to be a full list of family members, but an identification of the women mentioned in the cookbook.

Note:  I will put given name at birth in “()” and “= “denotes marriage.  I will use “Mr.” or “Ms.” if the first name is not known and "?" if last name is not known.  

George Hill (George H. Hill) = Jane Hill (Eliza Jane Coykendall)

They had Frank Hill (Frank Given Hill), Lee Hill (George Lee Hill), and Laura Hill Crone (Laura Louetta Hill)

Frank Hill = Maggie (Margaret Jane Murphy)

            Myrtle Hill = Elon McVey

            Dorothy Hill = Clifford R. Edwards

 Lee Hill =Aunt Jennie Hill (Aledia J. ?)  His first marriage was to Hattie Johnson (Harriett E. Johnson).

            Anna Hill = Fred D. Rauch

Laura Hill = Marshall Crone

            Ernest Crone = Emma Belle Howard

            Lena Pearl = Edward Brasel

                        Maurice Brasel = Frances?

                        Edyth Brasel = John Grimm (Helen Grimm is John Grimm’s mother)

                        Janell Brasel = Mr. Berger = Mr. Ronk

                        Helen Brasel = Fred Del Principe

            Jessie Crone

            Frank Crone = Bessie Ellsworth

            Marie Crone

            Fred Crone = Hazel Cook

            Iona Crone = Fulton = Davis = Smith

                        Margaret Fulton = Richard Noble

                        Paul Davis = Alice Davis

Ralph Davis

                        Laura Ruth Davis

                        John Smith = Carol Kirby

                                    Cindy Smith

                       

These are the pieces left over that I don’t know where to fit in:

Catherine Edwards

Mrs. Donald C. Edwards

Mrs. B. H. Rauch

Mrs. R.L.Harder

When I showed this list to my mother, she commented that many people she knows are missing.  Remember, this is a list of mostly women descendants of Jane Hill.  Also, this is dated 1949.  With her help, I have added some names that are not in the book, to make this list a little bit clearer and added a couple who were not in the family in 1949.  There are many more of us since 1949.

I am still working on this.  Ernie Crone had children not mentioned and Fred Crone has a daughter, Lorraine, who might be in this picture somewhere.  He also has sons.   I have no idea who Mrs. Harder is, and I am working to sort out the Edwards and Rauch ladies.

I love jigsaw puzzles, but when some pieces drop to the floor, or pieces from other puzzles get mixed in, it takes a little longer.  I am always happy for help.  I will update this page as I learn more.

Recent History – 1970s

OR:  Who is Smitty and why do we call her that?  (Pictures are coming)

At the beginning of the seventies I was in college in Seattle, Washington.  My family was at Fort Ord, California and had been since 1966.  A few months after I left for college Dad was deployed to Viet Nam.   When he got back he was reassigned to Fort Ord and for the first time in my life my family had been in one house for more than 2 years.  But not me, I was in Seattle.  While I was there, I think it was my junior year; I got the letter that jokes are made of.  “Hope you are doing well in school.  We have moved to a new address.”   

They had bought a house and moved to the town neighboring Fort Ord.  The same year I graduated from college Dad retired from the Army.  He retired on Friday and on Monday went back to the same office as a civilian consultant. 

In the mid 70s we started getting married.  Brother Mark first, then me, then sister Betsy.  When Mark got married Grandma Smith came out from Illinois.  She was there for all of the weddings and never moved back to Illinois.

At the end of the 70s the grandbabies started coming.  Mom’s grandbabies.  In the summer of 1979 brother Mark had Katharine, I had Erik, and Uncle John had Cindy.  I had a son, niece and cousin all in a few months.  After that babies were a yearly occurrence for several years.  The next year came Laura, the next Annemarie, the next Jonathan then lastly was Andrew.  Erik was my only one and we were living in Virginia.  Mark and Betsy and their children were all in California and near enough to drive to Grandma Phillips’ house for the day or weekend.

That’s when it happened, I’m told.  When those babies started talking and saying “Grandma” both my mom and my grandmother would smile and look up.  The kids were getting confused.  By mutual agreement my Grandma Smith became “Smitty” and then everyone knew who they were talking about.  We all began calling her Smitty.  Even now when we talk about her we call her Smitty, and smile.

So that’s how it happened.  I will try to carefully call her Grandma Smith in these postings.  Partly to remind of the relationship of whom I speak.  But if, in my excitement and casualness I refer to someone as Smitty, please know it is with love and fondness that it is Grandma Smith I am speaking of.

The rest of this story is this.  Those kids who were born the summer of ’79 are growing up nicely.  Katharine and Cindy are both finishing graduate school this spring.  Erik was married 18 months ago and his lovely wife, Bethany is our newest family member.  However, as I write this I am waiting word from Betsy that Laura has given birth to the next generation in our family.  In the baby pool I picked February 3^rd, but they say it could happen at any moment.  Best wishes and Good Luck go out to Laura and Aaron, Betsy and David, Grammy and the new little boy coming soon.

Crone Family ~~ Characters Welcome!

If my project of tracing my roots was a cable network, “The Crone Family” would be USA: “Characters Welcome”.

This might be the hardest for me to begin to share because this is the grandparent I knew best, and yet have accomplished the least where research is concerned.  I don’t want to dwell on her, but rather her roots.  When I began working on my search of family history she was available and very willing to answer questions and scratch her memory for me.  It is difficult because right at the beginning, in her lifetime, in her immediate family, were two tragic deaths.  Her father and sister both died in untimely accidents.  I will share these stories with you, but not on the same day.

When my brothers, Scott and Mark were in school, each one, on separate occasions had the assignment “to write about a family member”.  They each chose Grandma’s brother, Uncle Frank.  He was a character.  At some point in their lives when Uncle Frank was alone and Grandma was alone he moved in with her on the farm.  We lived nearby for a year and were able to get to know him. 

At the time we had a Chevy station wagon.  The kind that the third seat faced backwards.  My memory is of Uncle Frank, who was getting up in years, climbing into the back seat of the station wagon and singing “Ring-o” all the way to town.  I don’t know if he knew the words or faked it until the chorus.  “Ring-o”.  It wasn’t about the Beatles. It was a song Lorne Greene put out about a cowboy.  Here is a link.  When we got to town we went to an ice cream parlor and he played it on the juke box the whole time we were there.

Uncle Frank put spinach on his hotdog and told us it was an Irish Hot Dog.  He would stand on the back porch and throw a handful of coins into the grass and have us scramble for the change.  On the Fourth of July he was riding in the back seat of the station wagon, again, to go and watch the fireworks.  Do you have a memory of Uncle Frank?   Share it with me so I can post it here.

Marshall Crone was married to Laura Hill.  Laura’s middle name was Louetta.  Her mom’s best friends were Lou and Etta.  Thus baby Laura’s middle name: Louetta.

Grandma Smith was the youngest of their seven children.  Three of her siblings had no children, but the children of the others all spoke lovingly of Aunt Ione.  It will be fun to find these cousins, where ever they are now.

I found a story about her father, George Hill, floating down the Ohio River to come to Illinois.  I plan to offer up some of the history of this part of the country, as it was settled largely as payment for military service.  This story was recorded in a cookbook put together by his granddaughters.  Get ready granddaughters of Iona Crone Fulton Davis Smith.  When I get to the Hill’s and share this story and recipes with you I hope you will share one of your recipes and we will put together the follow-up cookbook.  I am not sure we will ever make the recipes found in the old cookbook, but they are very interesting historically. It was George Hill who was remembered by Grandma as an invalid, having suffered wounds during his service in the Civil War.  I have his military record and will be able to tell you more about this character.  She said one of his children was born before the war, one during the war and one after the war.

George Hill was married to Eliza Jane Coykendall.  (Sounds like Kurtendall.)  I have been able to trace this family a little bit.  It looks like they go back to New Jersey and perhaps New York City when it was just beginning.  I feel certain we will find Coykendalls in the Civil War and perhaps in the Revolutionary War.

Marshall (also called Mark) Crone’s father was Elijah Crone.  Grandma knew he came from Pennsylvania and thought there was a spelling change from Krohn at some point.  My very early research showed him in Juniata County, Pennsylvania, but I am sorry to tell you I have lost that piece of information.  Since then, Cousin Gary Crone has done a lot of work on this family.  While primary evidence is elusive he has put together a good case for a connection to a Crone family in York, Pennsylvania.  What he has done is astonishing and convincing.  I hope to be in touch with him and share his thoughts on how Elijah goes to Illinois.  Perhaps the DAR genealogist can give us her thoughts on his deductions.

Then there is the Muckey Family.  Elijah Crone married Susan Muckey.  This family came from New York State and has the only Rev War soldier I have found, so far.  The catch to this is that he was a Hessian, hired by the British and captured during the Battle of Trenton on Christmas 1776.  I feel a history lesson coming on.  History changes for me when I find things like this.  I had an ancestor who not only fought at that battle and was captured; he was fighting for the English! 

Lots of characters to tell you about. 

I haven’t said much about Grandma Smith here.  I am hoping you will share your memories of her with me and the week of her birthday in May I will put up stories and photos of her.

Davis Family = The History Channel

If my project of tracing my roots was a cable network, the Davis Family would probably be the History Channel.  Previously I traced the path of the Davis Family back to the Revolutionary War and mentioned that Thomas Nicholas Davis lived in Maryland at that time.  According to my stated goal of finding the immigrant ancestor I will finish the Davis line by saying that before Thomas Davis my Davises were living in Delaware, Pennsylvania and came over from Wales before 1685.  I will offer more complete information on this as the weeks and months go by.  Remember, my research is not complete.  

Along with Thomas Davis I suspect we have Rev War patriots in the Brandenburg, Hendrickson, Clary, Spears, and Burger families.  There might be others as well.  I have inklings of service for the families I have named here and will continue to work on establishing the proof.  This is just on the Davis side of this branch. 

My Grandfather Davis’ mother was Sarah Ann Wetzel.  I still have a lot to uncover here, but I have started.

Her mother was a “Clark” from Ohio.  In my quick research I found it is possible (do I dare say this…POSSIBLE, but not nearly proved) that there is a link here to William Clark.  (Remember, I fanaticize a lot.)  The fun part is that in the same, very weak moment of FANTASY I traced my husband to Meriwether Lewis in Virginia.  This is where the Mythbusters say “probably not”.  How cool would that be?  Mike and Sue ~~ Lewis and Clark!  However, you will now have more incite to the fantasies of a genealogist.  A lot of dreaming on a little bit of fact.  This stays between us, okay? I will let you know how this one comes out.

The Clark, Cook and Deary family do go back into Virginia.  I was in a courthouse when I discovered the Cook-Deary connection.  Can you begin to imagine the feeling of coming upon something like this?  I was probably in jeans and a t-shirt, probably skipped lunch because I wanted research time and could eat later.  It was a will or land record and it took my breath away!  I let out a squeal and was grinning from ear to ear.  The worst part was I wanted to jump up and down and hug someone and yell about what I found.  As I glanced around I saw people looking at me.  This was a modern, working court house.  They were at the other end of the room.  I was looking at records from the early 1800s and they were in the mid to late 1900s.  Most of them had suits on and were carrying briefcases.  This was before computers were popular and portable, so I probably had a tote bag overflowing with notebooks and file folders.  I bet I was having a better day than they were!  One of the great things about this find is that "Deary" is not a common name.  I was having trouble with "Cook" in the Shenandoah Valley.  A fairly common English name.  But "Deary" will be much easier to follow up.

And finally the Wetzel-Wunderlich-Stoever group.  This was fun and eventful.  This group settled in the southern part of Pennsylvania.  I would put them from Lancaster to Carlisle.  The easiest ancestor of this group is John Casper Stoever.  He came from Germany (not Germany then).  Born in 1707, he came to “America” and established the first Lutheran church in this country.  We can trace his work here and his ancestors back to 1458.  A lot has been written about him.

See what I mean.  The History Channel.

Tracing the Davis family to the Revolutionary War and before

Davis Family

When I began working on finding my roots this is the branch I knew least about.  It is funny how genealogy research goes sometimes.  Almost immediately I found a book about the family that included my grandfather, Herschel Davis, and went back to the first Davis of this family coming from Wales in the 1600s.  They actually came to the area I am living in now!

My philosophy is that a book is merely a suggestion, or clue to what the truth could be.  I always try to verify with another source, hopefully a primary source, a government record, such as birth, death or marriage records, land records, census or wills.  Even these have been known to be erroneous at times.  But you get where I am going with this.  Verify when possible.  I do have a good example of no primary sources being available, but a strong case is made in another way.  This is very interesting and falls in the Crone family.

This book (The Davis Family in Wales and America) has been accepted by the genealogist at the DAR, so that’s good.  I have found several holes in the details in my direct ancestors that I am trying to fill and will keep you posted on that.  However, there is a lot of discussion and controversy about the same book and its connection to Jefferson Davis.  And on it goes.

I take it as interesting that Jeff Davis might be related to this family, but he is so far removed (something like fourth cousin seven times removed) that it is of little concern to me that it might be wrong and I will spend no time on this problem.

The book led me to Nicholas Davis, who was living in Maryland during the Revolutionary War and is name in the DAR as a patriot.  More details on him are coming, but today let me give you some of the information that we will be discussing.

I am the granddaughter of

Herschel Lee DAVIS (b. 1894 d. 1967 m. Iona Jane Crone) who was the son of

Oliver DAVIS (b. 1865 d. 1947 m. Sarah Wetzel) who was the son of

Alfred Ward DAVIS (b. 1826 d. 1875 m. Jeannetta Clary) who was the son of

Solomon DAVIS (b. 1802 d. 1871 m. Eliza Hendrickson) who was the son of

David Ward DAVIS (b.1762 d.1837 m. Elizabeth Brandenberg ) who was the son of

Thomas Nicholas DAVIS (b. 1741-42 d. 1805 m. Rebecca Ward) who was a Private 2^nd Co., 4^th Batt, under Capt John Mitchell in the war for independence

I call this information the bones, or skeleton of genealogical research.  I have done a lot of study on this family, and have a lot of meat to share with you.  I have done research in Illinois, Kentucky, and Maryland on these families and have followed up on each wife listed.  There is a lot more information to come, including several more DAR patriots and a couple of mysteries solved, I think.  I hope.  Questions like: where in Ohio was Solomon born and was Rebecca Ward’s father’s name really Pierre?  I will let you know what I find out.

Schulstad Sisters

Frequently my blog about family history is motivated by photographs.  I have such a large collection of family photos and I would like to share them and I want to preserve them. Posting these photos on this blog will allow me to share them and ensure that while they are in my hands they won’t be destroyed.  I think that after I scan them I will donate them to an historical library or genealogical society.  Unless someone comes up with a better idea this is what I will go with.  I am open to suggestions.

The motivating picture today is this one of Marguerite Schulstad and her sisters.   On the back is written “Summer 1913”.  This is the same year that Marguerite was married.

From left to right are:

Marguerite Louise born 18 May 1892 Chicago, Illinois; died – 16 October 1969 Los Angeles, CA; She married (1)Frank Phillips, (2) John J Langbauer, and had one son, Ernest. 

Ellen Lucia born 2 May 1884 Austin, Minnesota; died May 1956 in California.  Ellen married Leon Winslow.  Leon was born in Nebraska.  I don’t know of any children.

Hilde Marie born 12 April 1882 Bergen, Norway; died 8 March 1977;  Hilde married Dan Ritenour.  There were no children that I know of.  I don’t know much about this couple at all.

Betty Henriette born 15 February 1880 Bergen, Norway; died July 13, 1973 in California; Betty married George Wyers who immigrated from Canada.  He died between 1920 and 1930.  She moved to southern California and lived with her daughters and sisters.  She died at age of 90. Two daughters: Isabelle and Roberta.

Lisbeth Larsine born 25 September 1870 Bergen, Norway; died 1950; Lisbeth was the oldest child.  She married her cousin Ole Broten.  Ole was the son of her aunt Rikke who was the sister of Lars Schulstad, her father.  They had two daughters: Ellen and Olga.

Looking for descendants of these ladies.  Let me know if I got any of this wrong.  This is a work in progress.

Meet the Tropes

Grandpa Trope, Mike, Grandma Trope, Erik, Ethan

Today is the anniversary of when I met my husband, Mike, so I think it would be a good time to introduce his family history.  We have found many similarities in our families’ stories, and many differences.

Like my dad, his dad’s family came over on a boat from “the old country” in the mid 1800s.  Mine from Norway and his from Germany.  Franz Trope was married with children when he came and one was born at sea.

Franz settled in New York City and was a shopkeeper.  Lars Schulstad (my dad’s grandfather) settled in Chicago and was a tailor.  It didn’t take long for the Trope family to move out of the city to Long Island where many still remain.

Like my mom, Mike’s mom was a farm girl with roots going several generations back in the same farming community she grew up in.  Both grandmas left the area, but family still remains there. 

His dad was a cadet at Virginia Tech mine was ROTC at the University of Illinois.

We both have ancestors who fought in the civil war.  Mine was from Illinois and his was from Virginia.

That is a brief introduction.  I have several pictures of this family and some stories for you as well.  I will continue to post about this family and look forward to comments and stories from you.