Celebrate Women’s History Month With a Blog Homage to Your Female Ancestors

Fearless Females blogging prompts, created by Lisa Alzo, are back for a fourth year.  There is one prompt for each day of March, and you can find them in this post by Lisa.  What better way to pay tribute to our female ancestors than by blogging about them each day of Women’s History Month?

Here are my posts from last year:

• Favorite Female Ancestor
• Photo
• Given Name
• Marriage
• How They Met
• Heirlooms
• Recipe
• Journal
• Gone Too Soon
• Six-Word Memoir
• A Lunch Date
• Social Butterfly
• Brick Walls
• Timelines

Do you plan to participate this year?  Have you already started?  If so, leave a link to your blog so I can follow along.  Did you participate in previous years?  If so, share one of your favorite posts.  I wanna know, so drop me a note in the comments!

Image courteous of VintageKin, which provides various genealogy graphics free for personal use.

Fearless Females – Memorial Pages

Back in 2010, in honor of Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo created a list of writing prompts for each day during the month of March.  I didn’t participate in 2010, so I’m going to take the opportunity to participate this year, since Lisa was kind enough to resurrect her prompts for 2012.

Create a free Fold3 Memorial Page or a Genealogy Trading Card at Big Huge Labs for a female ancestor. Some of you may have created your own card back in September 2009 following Sheri Fenley’s post over at The Educated Genealogist. This time, the card is for your female ancestor. Tell us about who you've selected and why and then post a link to what you've created.

I had previously created or contributed to five memorial pages at Fold3, one for my dad and one for each of my grandparents.  For my grandparents, I started with the SSDI entry and added a few facts and a photo or two.  It’s been almost two years since I did that.  Because of this prompt, I went ahead and updated all five pages, added sources, and some more images.

Since this prompt deals with female ancestors, here are the links to the pages for my grandmothers.  I hope that some of my family members will take the time to add their memories and stories to these pages.

• Marie Ethel (Rottman) Miller
• Joan Garrison (McMahon) Cahill

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Fearless Females – Timeline

Back in 2010, in honor of Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo created a list of writing prompts for each day during the month of March.  I didn’t participate in 2010, so I’m going to take the opportunity to participate this year, since Lisa was kind enough to resurrect her prompts for 2012.

Create a timeline for a female ancestor using your favorite software program or an online timeline generator such as OurTimelines.Post an image of it or link.

I took the opportunity to experiment with some online timelines.  I settled on Time Rime.  Here’s a simple timeline for my second great-grandmother, Hulda (Wach) Miller Severing.  If you’d like to know more about Hulda, read my post Hulda (Wach) Miller Severing.

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Fearless Females – Brick Walls

Back in 2010, in honor of Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo created a list of writing prompts for each day during the month of March.  I didn’t participate in 2010, so I’m going to take the opportunity to participate this year, since Lisa was kind enough to resurrect her prompts for 2012.

Is there a female ancestor who is your brick wall? Why? List possible sources for finding more information.

Three of the four second great-grandmothers on my mom’s side are “brick walls” simply because in order to determine their parents and siblings, requires studying others of the same surname in Chicago and/or “crossing the pond” to Germany.  Here are some basic details on each of them:

Minnie (Hemfler) Leppin – According to her death certificate, Minnie Hemfler was born on 9 April 1871 in Germany.  Minnie married Herman Leppin on 26 March 1894 in Chicago.  Minnie died on 17 Mary 1945 in Chicago.  Her death certificate does not name her parents.  However, based on the correlation of a few sources, I’m fairly positive that she had a sister named Augusta, who married a Philip Zimmermann (you can read more about this in my post I Think She’s Related).

Mary Eva (Reeder) Rottman – This one is definitely a thorn in my side (I’m sure my cousin Barbara would agree!).  I don’t really know that much about Eva, other than she was probably born about 18 March 1849 in France, married Philip Rottman likely before 1870, and died on 26 October 1899 in Iowa.  The interesting twist is that of their six children’s records, sometimes her maiden name was listed as Reeder, while other times is was listed as Lasser.  Is it possible that she was married briefly before she married Philip?

Mary (Braun) Stoffel – According to her death certificate, Mary was born on 19 November 1855 in Frankfurt, Germany.  She married Carl “Charles” Stoffel about 1884.  On 9 August 1936, Mary died in Chicago.  As I was reviewing a wedding booklet for Mary’s daughter, Anna, I was able to identify all of the names, except two.  After researching those two names, I’ve come to the conclusion that Mary had a sister (could also be a cousin, but there’s definitely a relationship), Anna, who married an Otto Beckard in Chicago in 1871.

Hopefully as my research on these ladies continues, I will be able to figure out who their parents and sibling were and where they came from, other than “Germany.”

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Fearless Females – Social Butterfly

Back in 2010, in honor of Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo created a list of writing prompts for each day during the month of March.  I didn’t participate in 2010, so I’m going to take the opportunity to participate this year, since Lisa was kind enough to resurrect her prompts for 2012.

Social Butterfly? What social organizations or groups did your mother or grandmother belong to? Sewing circle, church group, fraternal benefit society or lodge? Describe her role in the group.

Although not a direct ancestor, Mary (Ludwig) Schwartz probably has the biggest resume of the females in my family when it comes to social activities.  To quote from an article written after her death, she "was one of the best known and most active women in the northeast section of the city [Aurora].”¹

Maria Magdalena Ludwig was born in Consdorf, Echternach, Luxembourg on 15 February 1861, daughter of Michel and Elisabetha (Mersch) Ludwig.²  Eventually the family immigrated to the US and settled in Aurora, Kane, Illinois.  On 14 February 1882, Mary married Heinrich Schwartz (my second great-granduncle).³  She died 20 January 1938 in Aurora.⁴

As was told in her obituary, Mary was a very active member of her community.  She was involved with the following organizations:  “St. Stephana Ct. No. 529, W. C. O. F., Confraternity of Mary of St. Joseph's church, St. Ann's Society of Sacred Heart church, Third Order of St. Francis, Roosevelt Aurora post No. 84, American Legion Auxiliary, Waldley post No. 468, Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, American War Mothers, and Auxiliary of Burlington Veterans association.”⁵

Sources

1.  "Mrs. Schwartz Dies After a Heart Attack," (Aurora) Beacon News, 21 January 1938, p. 25, col. 5. 

2.  Consdorf, Echternach, Luxembourg, "Naissances [Births] 1798-1880," section 1861, no. 7, Mary Magdalena Ludwig; digital image, "Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923," FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org: 17 March 2012); citing FHL microfilm 1,793,114.

3.  Kane County, Illinois, (Kane County Clerk, Geneva), marriage certificate no. 1710 (1882), Schwartz-Ludwig; FHL microfilm 1,480,744. 

4.  Kane County, Illinois, (Kane County Clerk's Office, Geneva), death certificate no. 38 (written), 1833 (stamped) (1938), Mary M Schwartz; Illinois Death Certificates 485, item 4. 

5.  "Mary M Schwartz," (Aurora) Beacon News, 21 January 1938, p. 25, col. 3. 

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Fearless Females – A Lunch Date

Back in 2010, in honor of Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo created a list of writing prompts for each day during the month of March.  I didn’t participate in 2010, so I’m going to take the opportunity to participate this year, since Lisa was kind enough to resurrect her prompts for 2012.

If you could have lunch with any female family member (living or dead) or any famous female who would it be and why? Where would you go? What would you eat?

Most of my research efforts lately have centered around my second great-grandmother, Hulda (Wach) Miller Severing.  Besides the basic genealogy research, I have gone through ten years of newspapers (yes, every issue, page-by-page) to learn more about her, her family, and the society of which she spent fourteen years of her life.  Although the newspaper research has been helpful in understanding her life during those ten years, it doesn’t answer some of the specific questions I have asked myself for years. 

If I could have lunch with her, I’d be armed with the following questions:

• Why did you decide to leave your family in Germany, at the age of 15, to come to America?
• How did you later convince the rest of the family to immigrate to America several years later?
• What was your marriage to Emil Miller like?  Why did you separate, and eventually decide many years later to formally divorce him and marry John Severing?
• Do you have any idea what happened to Emil after the divorce?  Was he still part of your children’s lives?
• How did you meet John living some 70 miles away from him?
• What was your son Emil (my great-grandfather) like as a child?  What about Henry and Ida?
• How did you cope with the difficulties of stomach cancer for over two years?
• Which did you prefer, living in the big city of Chicago, or the rural town of Dunham?  Why?
• What was growing up in Germany like during the 1860-1880s?
• I know your mom, Amelia, remarried…what happened to your father Heinrich?
• I just recently learned that you had another brother, Carl August…what happened to him?
• If you could do it all over again, would you still have left Germany for America?

Wow, until writing these out, I had no idea how many questions I actually had…and I’m sure there’s more lurking in my head :)

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Fearless Females – Six-Word Memoir

Back in 2010, in honor of Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo created a list of writing prompts for each day during the month of March.  I didn’t participate in 2010, so I’m going to take the opportunity to participate this year, since Lisa was kind enough to resurrect her prompts for 2012.

Write a six-word memoir tribute to one of your female ancestors.

For my grandmother, Marie (Rottman) Miller:  Family-oriented, kind-hearted, strong-willed.

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Fearless Females – Gone Too Soon

Back in 2010, in honor of Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo created a list of writing prompts for each day during the month of March.  I didn’t participate in 2010, so I’m going to take the opportunity to participate this year, since Lisa was kind enough to resurrect her prompts for 2012.

Did you have any female ancestors who died young or from tragic or unexpected circumstances? Describe and how did this affect the family?

I have several female ancestors who passed on too early.  Here are the stories for two of my great-grandmothers.

Alma (Leppin) Miller – Alma Leppin was born 1 September 1896 in Chicago, Illinois.  At the age of 19 she married Emil Charles Miller 4 September 1915 in Chicago.  Together, Emil and Alma had three children: Raymond, Harold, and Mildred.  Alma died 15 December 1928, at the age of 32, due to heart trouble.

Catherine (Schwartz) Cahill – Catherine Schwartz was born 16 April 1894 in Aurora, Kane, Illinois.  On 25 April 1916, she married John Cahill in Aurora.  Just two-and-a-half years after their last child was born, Catherine reportedly committed suicide on 26 January 1925 in her home in Aurora.  She was just 30 years of age.

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Fearless Females - Journal

Back in 2010, in honor of Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo created a list of writing prompts for each day during the month of March.  I didn’t participate in 2010, so I’m going to take the opportunity to participate this year, since Lisa was kind enough to resurrect her prompts for 2012.

Did one of your female ancestors leave a diary, journal, or collection of letters? Share an entry or excerpt.

My grandmother kept a Vacation Journal from 1959 to 1981.  She would record everything from places they stopped for gas, to what they did at their destination; she even included all expenses.  Below is an excerpt from a trip to Iowa to visit family.

July 4th & 5th 1960 Left Elmhurst at 5:50 AM – Mileage 497 Tollway 30¢ – Tollway 10¢ Stopped at Hinkley, Ill for Breakfast.  Very Good – 1.55 + 30 tip = 1.85.  Were on the road again at 7:20 AM. Stopped at Rock Falls.  Gas – 5.20 – Mileage 603 Toll Bridge to cross Mississippi 20¢ Arrived in Lisbon Iowa 10:15 AM. Aunt Mabel was down at Ethel’s in Ivanhoe.  Had lunch there.  Then went to farm & down to the timber.  Nobody home.  Came back & got hotel at Mt. Vernon, Iowa - $12 nice, modern, clean, T.V. radio tub & shower.  10¢ Coke.  Next morning had breakfast in Lisbon $2.29.  Came back to motel, bought 2 glasses 30¢ & packed up.  Left for Mississippi Palisades Kepler Park.  Saw the Lodge were we had our first reunion.  Took some pictures & then came back to Aunt Mabel’s.  Had our second breakfast there.  Looked [at] three old albums of Uncle John, Dad, & Cousins.  Left Lisbon, Iowa about 1:00 PM.  Stopped at Clinton, Iowa at The Green Basket.  3.16 + 30 tip = $3.46 Toll Bridge - 20¢ Tollway (East-West) 30¢ - 10¢ Missed York St. & had to go a round about way on another toll road 30¢ to get home.  Arrived home safe & sound 7:30 PM

I' haven’t had the chance to actually read through or transcribe this journal.  But even though this particular entry is short, there is a lot of information contained, such as that both Mabel and Ethel were living in July 1960, and…the kicker…Mabel had three family photo albums…I wonder where those are now!

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Fearless Females – Recipe

Back in 2010, in honor of Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo created a list of writing prompts for each day during the month of March.  I didn’t participate in 2010, so I’m going to take the opportunity to participate this year, since Lisa was kind enough to resurrect her prompts for 2012.

Share a favorite recipe from your mother or grandmother’s kitchen. Why is this dish your favorite? If you don’t have one that’s been passed down, describe a favorite holiday or other meal you shared with your family.

This is a recipe for a veggie soup from my great-grandaunt, Florence (Boam) Garrison.

Aunt Florence’s Vegetable Soup

Ingredients
2 lbs ground beef 5 beef bouillon cubes 1 15 oz can tomato sauce 1 large onion, chopped 2 15 oz cans stewed tomatoes 1 cup cubed potatoes	1 cup slice carrots 1 cup sliced celery 3 cups shredded cabbage 1 tablespoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper water

Directions

Brown ground beef; drain. Add remaining ingredients and simmer 2 hours.

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Fearless Females - Heirlooms

Back in 2010, in honor of Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo created a list of writing prompts for each day during the month of March.  I didn’t participate in 2010, so I’m going to take the opportunity to participate this year, since Lisa was kind enough to resurrect her prompts for 2012.

Describe an heirloom you may have inherited from a female ancestor (wedding ring or other jewelry, china, clothing, etc.) If you don’t have any, then write about a specific object you remember from your mother or grandmother, or aunt (a scarf, a hat, cooking utensil, furniture, etc.)

This is my paternal grandmother’s wedding ring.  When my mother gave it to me, I used to wear it all the time.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t fit anymore.

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Fearless Females – How They Met

Back in 2010, in honor of Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo created a list of writing prompts for each day during the month of March.  I didn’t participate in 2010, so I’m going to take the opportunity to participate this year, since Lisa was kind enough to resurrect her prompts for 2012.

How did they meet? You’ve documented marriages, now, go back a bit. Do you know the story of how your parents met? Your grandparents?

My grandparents, Harold Miller and Marie Rottman, met as kids…they were neighbors.  Although I don’t know the full story of how they met or started dating, I do have some artifacts, including a letter written by Marie to Harold two months before they married and a story about my grandmother’s engagement ring

The Letter

Thursday 7:00 PM Darling, Please do not stop at the dime store to buy anything for my hope chest.  I have a plan.  I hope you understand it. You make $16.00 wk--$64.00 Month $9.00 wk - Housekeeping--$36.00 Month                        Room $64.00  36.00                    $15.00 Eat Month $28.00 Left $28.00  15.00 $13.00 carfare $1.25 wk = $5.00 Month $13.00   5.00 carfare Month   8.00   2.00    Insurance   6.00        say about $2.00 Month Thats all I can think of at the present. How does it sound to you?  Can you come over around 11 o clock instead of 12? Love Marie P.S. In order to get married you have to be over 18. [Marie Rottman to Harold Miller (Chicago, Illinois), letter, 4 May 1939, Rottman Family Artifacts; privately held by the author.]

The Engagement Ring

The year was 1938.  I was an 18-year-old girl.  I had been going with my 19-year-old boyfriend for about a year.  We were in love and knew we would marry someday.  Jobs were scarce for young men, but on Christmas Day, Harold came to my house with engagement and wedding rings.  I was elated.

The engagement ring was too big so we wrapped string around it to fit my finger.

During the winter we made plans to marry on July 6, 1939.  We were saving as much as we could for the wedding.  Harold only made $16.75 a week so our dates weren't expensive.  On most Sundays we packed a lunch and went to North Avenue Beach on Lake Michigan.

One Sunday I noticed my ring was missing.  We looked on the blanket and sifted through the sand.  We searched for about five hours and had to give up because it was dark.  My engagement ring was gone.  Harold knew I was upset so he decided to burry his ring in the sand so our rings would be together just as we would spend our lives together.  It wasn't an expensive ring but one that he was fond of.  We packed up and took the streetcar home.

When we arrived home I told my sister that I lost my ring.  She said, "No, you didn't.  It must have fallen off your finger during the night because I found it when I made your bed this morning.  You had already left for the beach."

We were married in July and our marriage lasted almost 43 years when the Dear Lord took Harold from me.  I'll never forget the love and understanding he showed that day on the beach.

[Marie (Rottman) Miller, story, ca. June 1982, Miller Family Artifacts; privately held by the author.  This story was dictated by Marie to her daughter Jean (Miller) Cahill after the death of Marie's husband, Harold.]

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Fearless Females - Marriage

Back in 2010, in honor of Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo created a list of writing prompts for each day during the month of March.  I didn’t participate in 2010, so I’m going to take the opportunity to participate this year, since Lisa was kind enough to resurrect her prompts for 2012.

Do you have marriage records for your grandparents or great-grandparents? Write a post about where they were married and when. Any family stories about the wedding day? Post a photo too if you have one.

I’m fortunate to have marriage records for each set of grandparents and great-grandparents.  I also have wedding photos for my grandparents, but none of my great-grandparents.

Harold Miller & Marie Rottman 6 July 1939 Chicago, Illinois

John Cahill & Joan McMahon 6 November 1943 Chicago, Illinois

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Fearless Females – Given Name

Back in 2010, in honor of Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo created a list of writing prompts for each day during the month of March.  I didn’t participate in 2010, so I’m going to take the opportunity to participate this year, since Lisa was kind enough to resurrect her prompts for 2012.

Do you share a first name with one of your female ancestors? Perhaps you were named for your great-grandmother, or your name follows a particular naming pattern. If not, then list the most unique or unusual female first name you’ve come across in your family tree.

Truth be told, I was named after a character in a soap opera.  But my middle name is my grandmother’s given name, Marie.

I do have some unique and unusual names in my tree, two of them being Hulda and Alvina (sometimes Alwine).  Hulda and Alvina are sisters, who were both born in Germany.

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Fearless Females – Photo

Back in 2010, in honor of Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo created a list of writing prompts for each day during the month of March.  I didn’t participate in 2010, so I’m going to take the opportunity to participate this year, since Lisa was kind enough to resurrect her prompts for 2012.

Post a photo of one of your female ancestors. Who is in the photo? When was it taken? Why did you select this photo?

This is a photo of Maida “Meta” Hoffman, who married my great-granduncle, Charles Leppin.  It was supposedly taken on the ship when she emigrated from Germany to the US in 1928.

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Fearless Females – Favorite Female Ancestor

Back in 2010, in honor of Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo created a list of writing prompts for each day during the month of March.  I didn’t participate in 2010, so I’m going to take the opportunity to participate this year, since Lisa was kind enough to resurrect her prompts for 2012.

Do you have a favorite female ancestor? One you are drawn to or want to learn more about? Write down some key facts you have already learned or what you would like to learn and outline your goals and potential sources you plan to check.

I’d have to say that my favorite female ancestor is my third great-grandmother, Sarah Norton (Webster) Coffinger Mulligan (1828-1894).  Sarah is my pivotal connection to the Webster line, as well as the reason behind the joining of my parent’s families. 

As children, Sarah’s parents, Calvin Price Webster and Betsey Parks, moved with their families to Oakland County, Michigan, where they later married.  Sarah first married Abram Coffinger, apparently in 1850 in the neighboring county of Macomb, and together they had five known children.  Abram died in 1863, so Sarah married James Mulligan (my third great-grandfather) in 1865.  James and Sarah had three children:  Edward, Sarah Jane (my ancestor), and Margaret.  At one point, James and Sarah moved to Flint, Michigan, where James later died in 1879.  By 1892, Sarah had moved to Chicago with daughter Sarah Jane (evidence suggests that son Edward was there before his mother and sister, although they may have all moved together by 1891).

Sarah’s move to Chicago, albeit, possibly not solely her decision, was what started the joining of my parent’s family.  Her daughter Sarah Jane, married James Manly Garrison on 23 January 1893 in Chicago.  Their daughter, Emma, married John Ward McMahon on 26 May 1923 in Chicago.  John and Emma’s daughter, Joan, married John Francis Cahill on 6 November 1943 in Chicago.  And finally, their only son, my dad, married my mom in 1967 in Chicago.  Most of mom’s family had settled in Chicago in the late 1880s.  Many of the families of both my mom and dad coexisted in Chicago in the same general vicinity for decades.  Then each set of my grandparents relocated to the same Chicago suburb.

It’s amazing how the decision of one person can lead to the chain of events that create our existence.  Had Sarah and her daughter not moved to Chicago, I would certainly not be here writing about it!

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