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I’ve been spending my “free” time reviewing old issues of Harvard Herald to learn more about my Miller family who lived in McHenry County, Illinois in the early 1900s. There have been many discoveries made, which have furthered my research on this family. But this find, well, it was quite unusual.
Last week, I had come across the following brief in the 4 December 1913 issue:
At first I wasn’t even sure it referred to my great-granduncle’s wife, but the address seemed familiar, so I made a copy of it. What was odd, was it seemed that Henry wasn’t in the picture, since she was looking for a “means of support for herself and little child.” This was why I initially questioned whether it was the same family. Consequently, I knew that sometime after 1920, they apparently divorced, but this was seven years prior, and two additional children were born of this union between 1914 and 1916.
Then yesterday, I finally understood why she was seeking work. Henry had disappeared, as evidenced by the following article I found in the 26 February 1914 issue:
How bizarre is that? I wonder what happened to him, where he went, and how he managed to find his way home. Who knows, maybe he was abducted by aliens ;)
1. BCG Certification – My main goal is to “start the clock” this year for BCG certification. Almost a year ago, I began to figure out what I was going to do for each part of my portfolio. With all the craziness in 2011, it was not possible for me to conduct the remaining research needed to complete those projects. These last few weeks have been spent getting some of that research done to put me closer to this goal. While I may not be certified by the end of 2012, I should be on my way toward building and submitting my portfolio for evaluation.
2. Publishing Articles – In general, I’d like to publish more articles this year (especially since I don’t think I had any published last year). Also, this year, I’d like to submit articles to different publications than where I normally submit.
That’s it! Just two goals…piece of cake, right?
I resolved to do several things during 2011, and I must say, I’ve accomplished a lot, although not everything I set out to do. Let’s review.
Submit an entry for the 2011 ISFHWE Excellence in Writing Competition
Well this was an interesting one. Initially, the goal was do enter the 2011 competition, regardless of whether I decided to enter the 2010 competition (at the very last minute). While I haven’t entered the 2011 competition yet (I still have a few months), I did end up submitting an entry just days before the deadline—and I place third! You can read more about that here.
Submit a research-related article to the Illinois State Genealogical Society quarterly journal
All of the articles I’ve written for this publication have been more technical in nature and not focused on my personal research. My goal for this year was to submit at least one article that is about my own genealogy research regarding my Illinois ancestors. This is one goal I did not accomplish, simply because life got in the way. A similar goal is on the list for 2012.
Attend the 2011 FGS Conference
The 2011 FGS Conference was held in Springfield, Illinois and by golly, I attended. I also had several responsibilities to attend to since I was part of the local conference committee dealing with publicity and signage. This was my first national genealogy conference and I was very glad I attended. I learned a lot, made some new friends, and hung out with many of my genealogy buddies I’d met through blogging and Facebook. You can read more about my experience here.
Help someone else with their own genealogy
While I didn’t necessarily do any research for others, I did assist as a second set of eyes in a few cases, which helped further the person’s own research.
Finish ProGen Study Group
My group finished in April 2011. It was a good experience and I’m glad I pursued it. I learned a lot and it helped me focus on what I want to do in terms of a genealogy profession in the future.
Stop slacking on this blog
The first part of the year, I really tried to post more, but with all of the conference work and other obligations, I just didn’t do as much as I wanted. As soon as the conference was over, I picked up momentum, although an out-of-area move put everything on the back burner yet again. Hopefully things will pick up here after the holiday season. I posted 100 posts this year (not including this one or any between now and the end of the year). Here are some of my more popular posts from the 2011 year:
Not a bad year, considering all of the craziness that’s gone on in my life in the last 12 months. In my next post, I’ll outline my goals for 2012.
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A few weeks ago, I discovered digitized copies of newspapers for Cedar Rapids, Iowa at the Digital Archives of the Cedar Rapids Public Library website. I made several discoveries for my Rottman family that lived near Cedar Rapids.
One of those finds has to do with the identification of a car that my mother was photographed in when she was a child. I know that sounds strange, but it’s true.
Below are two photos of my mom, her brother, and their cousin in an antique (by today’s standards) car. I had no idea where the photo was taken, nor what the year, make, or model was of the car.
While I was doing my newspaper searches, I came across an article in the 14 August 1955 issue of The Cedar Rapids Gazette entitled, “Antique and Classic Autos at Fair.” In part, the article states:
“A 1904 Cadillac owned by Donald and Robert Rottman of Lisbon. This car was purchased new by the Rottmans’ grandfather and is in its third generation in the family.”
When I saw the year of the car, I had a déjà vu moment and thought about the photos above of my mom and the old car. Since there was no photo in the article, I put my thoughts aside, and continued my newspaper search.
Later, I came across another reference to the car in a photo caption, which was in the 11 July 1966 issue of The Cedar Rapids Gazette.
The caption reads:
“AN AFTERNOON PARADE was one of the Legion day features in Mt. Vernon Saturday. In this photo, from left, Roland Rottman, 9, David Rottman, 8, both of Mt. Vernon, and Cindy Levien, 14, of Solon ride in a 1904 Cadillac, which was one of the units in the parade.”
Although it’s hard to tell from the newspaper photo if it’s the same car that my mom was photographed in, I was of the opinion that it was certainly possible. I now had two references to this car and the family, so I emailed my mom both newspaper clippings and asked her if it was the same car. Her response was “Yes—think it’s Bob Rottman’s.” And according to the first article, indeed it was connected to Bob.
The first article indicated that Robert and Donald’s grandfather purchased the car new. That grandfather could have been either John Rottman or James Coster…another mystery for another day.
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I’ve written many times about Emil MILLER and Hulda WACH, both immigrated to the US from Germany and settled in Chicago, where they eventually married. I knew from notes in family papers that Hulda married a second time, to John Severing, and they had a daughter Lillian. Based on that information, I found that Hulda and John married in January 1901 in Chicago and they were found living together in McHenry County, Illinois in 1910. John is found in the 1920 and 1930 censuses married to someone else and I therefore concluded that Hulda either died or remarried between 1910 and 1920.
I asked a fellow genealogist to check the death index for McHenry County for Hulda between 1910 and 1920; she found nothing. So earlier this month, I decided to conduct research in the local newspaper in hopes of uncovering what happened to her. I started going week by week, looking at the entire contents of the eight-page (usually) paper; it took five hours to go through one year. During 1910, there were a few mentions of Hulda and her children, mostly noting visits to (or from) Chicago. By the end of August 1910, she was still living and known as “Mrs. John Severing” having visited Chicago along with her daughters Lillian and Ida (“Mrs. Charles Brunner”).
Having just moved to a new city, I contacted the local library on Monday to ask if they did inter-library loans with the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, knowing that they have these particular newspapers on microfilm that they loan out. Thankfully, they do, so I went to the library, got my new library card, and requested the films for 1910-1920 (this saves me a two-hour drive, roundtrip and parking costs, so I was pretty excited about that alone!!). When the films come in, I plan to resume my search with 1911.
But here’s the kicker. While looking for something else (because it always happens that way), I noticed that the Illinois Probate Records, 1819-1970 collection on FamilySearch was updated on 29 November. Curious to see what had been added, I followed the link and discovered there were many new counties, one of which….wait for it…was McHenry! So naturally I looked to see what was available. Although it reads “Probate Records v. 4 1844-1985” I learned that it is only an index. I headed over to the surnames beginning with S. They are organized by year, so I started with 1910 and it didn’t take long to find an entry for Hulda Severing in May 1914 (right underneath was a listing for her minor daughter, Lillian).
Unbelievable. First, I can’t believe that I finally found some sort of source that gives me some clue as to when she died, especially since I anticipated continuing the search through newspapers for a span of ten years! Naturally, when I get the films, I will head directly to May 1914 and start there, but in all honestly, I still plan to go through all the years when the family lived there. I found so many interesting nuggets in just one year, I’m sure I will find other interesting things as I search the remaining years.
Second, I’m surprised there is a probate file for her. I plan to call the county ASAP to find out how to obtain a copy of the file and hopefully that will give me more information such as a specific date and place of death.
While I’ve found this little nugget, there is still much more to uncover on this family. I still have no idea what happened to her first husband, Emil. In addition to the local newspaper, I’ve found several other items related to the family of her second husband John in the Rockford newspapers available on GenealogyBank. It was through many searches that I finally learned what became of Hulda and John’s daughter Lillian. The pieces are finally starting to come together and this probate file will be one more piece of the puzzle.
If you haven’t already, be sure to read my previous posts about this family:
Julie is a genealogist who specializes in writing, editing, and graphic design. If you are looking for someone to help organize your family data into a book or prepare a research article for publication, Julie can help. Other services include the development of educational materials such as books/booklets, articles, and online courses. See "About Julie" for additional information.
Using Historical Newspapers for Genealogy Research
Lineage Societies and Genealogy
Researching County Histories
US City Directories
Join me at the FGS 2013 Conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana, August 21-24.
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