Reflections From the Fence: Ruthig

Showing posts with label Ruthig. Show all posts

Monday, October 6, 2014

National German-American Day

Today is National German-American Day, 2014.

German-American day, celebrates, in part, German American heritage. There is a short article about it on Wikipedia.

Man and I both have German heritage. My lines include, but are not limited to, Halterman, Holsinger, Kessler, Lehman, Argobright (Ergebright). Man's line include two strong German lines of Gerth and Ruthig, both of which spent a number of years in Canada before actually coming into the thumb area of Michigan.

Man also has the "Gehrke" blood, via his mother, grandfather and great-grandparents. The clan left Germany in 1888 aboard the J.C. Pfluger bound from Bremerhafen to Honolulu. They lived on the island of Kauai until around 1904 when they moved on to the Oakland California area. After living through the 1906 San Francisco earthquake the clan moved to Huron County Michigan, one son by 1909, the rest were found on church records in Huron County by the end of 1911.

The patriarch of the Gehrke clan was Karl/Carl/Charles Herman Gehrke. The matriarch was Charlotte Louise Gruendemann-Grunbaum Gehrke (the story of her maiden name is long and convoluted and no, I am NOT sure it is Gruendemann-Grunbaum.)

Carl about 1910:

Charlotte about 1910:

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Sunday's Stories, 52 Ancestor Weeks, Week # 5, Johannes Ruthig

This is week 5 of my participation Amy Johnson Crow's, once a week challenge to blog about one ancestor a week, tell their story, biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on that one ancestor. More about the challenge can be found at her Blog, No Story Too Small.

Last we we chatted about Maria Eva Molder/Molter. Maria was the mother of Valentin Rudig AKA Valentine Ruthig.

This week we shall discuss Johannes Ruthig, husband of Maria and father of Valentin. I have found his name recorded as Johannes Ruedig, Johnnes Rudig, Johannes Ruthig, and John Ruthig.

Johannes (John) Ruthig, son of Johannes Philip Rudig and Maria Margaretha Hirsch, was born on January 24, 1796 in Schoenenberg, Bayern, Germany. Below is the Church at Miseau Germany, from our quick visit in 1997. The church was not open. Due to circumstances, we were happy to drive up, see it, walk around, take some photos. It is a beautiful building.

This is Johannes baptismal record. The record was found in this record set: "Baptism, death, marriage and confirmation records of the Protestant Reformed Church (Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche in German) of Miseau and Obermiseau, Bayern, Germany. LDS films 1457640, 0247639, and 0193094."

His record is the last full record on this image.

Johannes was confirmed on the 20th day of April 1810 according to the church records of the Protestant Reformed Church of Obermiseau, Bayern, Germany. I currently do not have a copy of this record in my digital files.

Johannes married Maria Eva Molder, daughter of Christian Molter and Maria Eva Wagner, on January 5, 1817 in Miseau, Bayern, Germany. This is their marriage record.

Maria and John had three children: Katharina, Valentine, and Johannes. All three of the children were born in Germany.

The following family tradition stories have been generously shared by other descendants of Johannes. They are shared here with that in mind, family traditions and stories are so quickly lost to time, we are thankful for any that are found, they are all so special.

"John lived in Shoenenberg, in the district now known as Rhineland Phalz, where he carried the mail, going on foot from village to village before there were any railways.

John immigrated to America in 1836 and there with his family of one daughter and two sons settled in Waterloo, Waterloo County, Ontario. Here he worked at the flour mill. He had to haul flour to Buffalo New York with oxen. In 1842 he moved with his wife and family to a farm in Wilmot Township, near New Hamburg Ontario. This farm like most of this part of Ontario at that time was still covered by forest."

John and his family are found on the ship's manifest for the "Albany", which left Havre De Grace and arrived in New York City on August 16, 1836. The manifest shows John Ruthig, age 40, a mechanic of Bavaria; Maria, age 40, or Bavaria, Cath. (Catherine), age 17 of Bavaria; Valentin, age 14 of Bavaria and John, age 11 of Bavaria. (See list number 720, film roll number 31, microfilm serial number M237)

John was naturalized on February 15, 1845. His naturalization papers state that he had lived in Canada for 7 years as of September 14, 1843. That would indicate that he moved to Canada in 1836. John was actually naturalized in 1848, the date being entered wrong as 1845 on the register. His naturalization can be found on Reel C-15693 available from the National Archives of Canada, Volume 8, Entry 499, Waterloo County. Copies of the naturalization records are not currently part of my collection.

John is found on the 1851 Canadian Census, Wilmot, Waterloo County, Ontario, Canada, enumerated between his daughter Katharina and son, John: John Rudig, farmer, born Germany, Lutheran, age 57; Marie, born Germany, Lutheran, age 57. Also enumerated in the household is Catrine Rudig, born U. Canada, Lutheran, age 8.

John is enumerated on the 1861 Canadian Census in Waterloo County, Ontario, Canada: John Ruthig, farmer born German, Lutheran, age 67, married, living in a frame home, 1 story, built in 1848 (year is crossed out); Marie Eva, born Germany, Lutheran, age 66. Next family enumerated is that of his son, John, and also found on the same page of the census is daughter Katharina and her husband Frederic Kuntze.

John was found enumerated on the 1871 Canadian Census of Wilmot, Waterloo County, Ontario in his son's household: John, age 76, born German, farmer, widowed.

John died on Jun 22, 1880 in Wilmot Township, Waterloo County, Ontario, Canada at age 84. Here is his death record. I have digitally removed other records from the image, I have not changed the facts.

John's burial place has not been recorded yet in my data base.

My wish list for Johannes Ruthig: Image for the confirmation record, locate, scan and link to data base.

Recheck files to determine if I have copy of the naturalization papers, if not, investigate possibility of obtaining same.

Locate, if possible, the actual passenger list from 1836.

Lutheran church records from Ontario.

Any newspaper articles, obituaries, marriage notices.

Locate place of burial.

Seeing that John died in 1880, I can hold out hope for a photo.

* Additional source data can be obtained by contacting me, see the right hand column for a yahoo email address.

** 52 Ancestors Weeks Button courtesy of Amy Johnson Crow.

*** I use many resources to research, FamilySearch.org is a free site. Ancestry.com is a pay site for which I pay, no discounts, etc. The Library and Archives of Canada site is a free site. None of these sites have asked me to review them, or use them. See my Disclaimers page for further details.

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Sunday, January 26, 2014

Sunday's Stories, 52 Ancestor Weeks, Week # 4, Maria Eva Molder/Molter

This is week 4 of my participation Amy Johnson Crow's, once a week challenge to blog about one ancestor a week, tell their story, biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on that one ancestor. More about the challenge can be found at her Blog, No Story Too Small.

Last week I shared Valentin Rudig AKA Valentine Ruthig. By the way, you may want to revisit, I found his baptismal record and added it to the post!

This week I will review and share what I have about his mother, Maria Eva Molder/Molter.

Maria daughter of Christian Molter and Maria Eva Wagner was born on March 19, 1796 in Kuebelberg, Bayern, Germany. She was baptized on March 20, 1796 at Kuebelberg, Bayern, Germany according to "Baptism, death, marriage and confirmation records of the Protestant Reformed Church (Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche in German) of Miseau and Obermiseau, Bayern, Germany. LDS films 1457640, 0247639, and 0193094." Her baptismal record is below, it is the second record on this page.

Maria was confirmed in 1809, the record of this confirmation is found in the Protestant Reformed Church of Obermiesau, Bayern, Germany. I currently do not have a scanned digital version of that record on my computer.

Maria married Johannes (John) Ruthig, son of Johannes Philip Rudig and Maria Margaretha Hirsch on Jan 5, 1817 in Miseau, Bayern, Germany.

Maria and John had three children: Katharina, Valentine, and Johannes. All three of the children were born in Germany.

I found Maria's name with the Ruthig family when they were immigrating, via New York in August of 1836. Also listed are her husband John, children: Cath (for Catherine or Katherine, found spelled both ways), Valentin and son John.

I thought it might be fun to see what I could net search on the "Albany". I failed to find an image of any kind that was specific to the Albany. I did however find an image on this web page that probably is fairly close. This page by Peter Biggins shows the ship "Johannes" from a watercolor about 1835. The image is about half way down the page.

Along the way, on a Wikipedia page I found this interesting image, but, it is from 1874, a full 38 years after the Ruthig family immigrated. I can imagine the "feeling" is similar, but, the ship and the clothing and more will be skewed due to the dates.

Maria is found enumerated on the 1851 and 1861 Canadian census of Waterloo County, Ontario, Canada.

Maria died between the 1861 census and the 1871 census. She does not appear in the Ontario Death Indexes. I have not discovered her burial place.

My wish list for Maria Eva Molder/Molter Ruthig:

Scan and link her confirmation records from the Miseau church.

Locate, if possible, the actual passenger list from 1836.

Lutheran church records from Ontario.

Any newspaper articles, obituaries, marriage notices.

Locate place of burial.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Sunday's Stories, 52 Ancestor Weeks, Week # 3, Valentin Rudig AKA Valentine Ruthig

This is week 3 of my participation Amy Johnson Crow's, once a week challenge to blog about one ancestor a week, tell their story, biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on that one ancestor. More about the challenge can be found at her Blog, No Story Too Small.

In week # 1, I blogged about Katherina Ruthig Gerth, last week I posted about her mother, Margret (Marguarita) Zinkann Ruthig. This week, is all about Katherina's father, Valentin Rudig, AKA, Valentine Ruthig.

Valentin Rudig, AKA Valentine Ruthig, son of Johannes (John) Ruthig and Maria Eva Molder was born on Sep 22, 1821 in Schoenenberg, Bayern, Germany, and was christened on Sep 25, 1821 in Schoenenberg, Bayern, Germany. I have copies of many of the church records from Germany, but, at this time they are not linked to my data base. Another issue to add to the long and never ending "to do " lists.

UPDATE: I have located the baptism of Valentin Rudig!

Valentin Rudig, son of Johannes Rudig and Maria Molter, of Schoenberg, Bayern, Germany was confirmed in 1836 as reported in the records of the Protestant Reformed Church of Obermiseau, Bayern, Germany. Again, the copy of this record has not yet been scanned.

In 1997 Man and I were able to travel to Germany (for a family wedding, and just a small side of genie) and found the church at Miseau, there are several photos, I will share more in future posts. The date over the door is inscribed 1738.

In August of 1836 the Ruthig family is found immigrating, via New York. The index found at FamilySearch reads:

New York, 1820-1850 Passenger and Immigration Lists
Name: Valentin Ruthig
Arrival Date: Aug 16, 1836
Age: 14
Gender: M
Port of Arrival: New York
Port of Departure: Havre De Grace
Place of Origin: Bavaria
Destination: United States of America
Ship: Ship Albany
Microfilm Serial Number: M237
Microfilm Roll Number: 31
List Number: 720

There is even an image to accompany the index. It shows Valentine's father, John; mother Maria; and siblings Cath(erine) and John were on the same ship. This index, by the way, matches the family tradition of the family coming from Germany in 1836.

As reported in "The Marriage Registers of Upper Canada/Canada West", Volume 9, Part 1, Wellington District, 1840 - 1852, Valentine Ruthig and Margaretha Zuikann were married by Rev. Schuler, witnesses to the marriage were Peter Rotherwel and Frederick Krinkze. They were married by the Minister of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Hamburg in 1847.

Valentine was found on the 1851 census report of Perth County, Ontario, Canada. The extracted version of that census reads:

Valintine Ruthig, born Germany, age 28; Margaret Zinkan, born Germany, age 22; Mary, age 3, born Canada; John, age 2, born Canada.

Just last week I located his family on the 1861 census, remember?? I am still doing a bit of a genie happy dance over this find!

Valentine appears on the 1871 census, North Easthope, Perth County, Ontario, Canada, extracted by moi:

Valentine, age 48, born Germany, Lutheran, of German heritage, farmer; Margaret, age 40, born Germany, Lutheran, of German heritage; John, age 18, born Ontario; Elisabeth, age 17, born Ontario; Catherine, age 15, born Ontario; Josephine, age 13, born Ontario; Margaret, age 11, born Ontario; Henery, age 9, born Ontario; Louise, age 7, born Ontario; Annie, age 5, born Ontario; Helen, age 3, born Ontario; Hedwig, 10 months old, born May, born Ontario.

Currently I do not have the data for the 1881 census enumeration.

Margaret and Valentine had 12 children: Mary, John Henry, Elizabeth, Katherina, Josephine, Margaretha, Heinrich (Henery) Peter Valentine, Louisa, Anna Caroline, Helena Caroline, Hedwig Marie Katherine, and William Heinrich.

Valentine died on Jul 13, 1883 in North Easthope, Perth County, Ontario, Canada at age 61, dying 6 hours after an accident. Valentine was buried in Riverside Cemetery, New Hamburg, Waterloo County, Ontario, Canada.

His death record, digitally edited by moi to delete other records, retaining only Valentine's.

My wish list for Valentin Rudig, AKA, Valentine Ruthig:

Scan and link his ~~baptism~~ and confirmation records from the Miseau church. Update: Baptism found, see above.

Locate, if possible, the actual passenger list from 1836.

Marriage record.

1881 census information.

Lutheran church records from Ontario.

Any newspaper articles, obituaries, marriage notices.

And, of course, a photo.

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Sunday's Stories, 52 Ancestor Weeks, Week # 2, Margret (Marguarita) Zinkann Ruthig.

This is week 2 of my participation Amy Johnson Crow's, once a week challenge to blog about one ancestor a week, tell their story, biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on that one ancestor. More about the challenge can be found at her Blog, No Story Too Small.

Last week I wrote about Katharina Ruthig Gerth. Today, I am going to chat about her mother, Margret. Her name has been found recorded in records or indexes as: Margaretha Zuikann, Margarita and Margaret. Again, being of German heritage, the spellings are found any number of different ways.

Margret (Margarita) Zinkann was born on Mar 27, 1831 in Germany, her parents were, well, there is a problem, I am not sure.

At one time I had believed her father to be John Zinkan(n) and Eliza Norgang (also found spelled Nahrgang) Zinkan(n). Then, another researcher contacted me and they swore that Margaret's father was one Henry Zinkan(n) and Anna Catherine Nahrgang Zinkan(n). I believe this researcher sent me some kind of proof, except, you guessed it, I do not seem to have a copy of same attached to my data base at this time, which means, it probably is back in SE Michigan in a pile. (Please no lectures, I am not perfect, I get busy with real life, and, I fail to get everything recorded correctly. Yep, imperfect.)

If you search at RootsWeb.com, you can find an entry for Henry and Anna Zinkann that lists Margaret as their daughter. (This same researcher has a child William born 1855 as a son of Margaret and Valentine Ruthig, I have a child William as well, but, born in 1873, SIGH.)

I have no record of Margaret on the 1842 census in Canada. A review of the records available (Upper Canada, probably not the correct area, but, hey, I looked anyway, ya never know what surprise you might get!) at FamilySearch found nothing for Zinkan(n) or Ruthig (Rudig).

Margret married Valentine Ruthig\Rudig, son of Johannes (John) Ruthig and Maria Eva Molder in 1847 in Hamburg, Wilmot Township, Wellington District, Upper Canada. My source for this marriage is Don Walker and Fawne Statford-Devai, compiler, "Marriage Registers of Upper Canada/Canada West" (Delhi, Ontario: NorSim Research and Publishing, 1997. I do not have a digital copy of the entry in their compilation attached to my data base. The data I extracted follows:

"Valentine Ruthig and Margaretha Zuikann were married by Rev. Schuler, witnesses to the marriage were Peter Rotherwel and Frederick Krinkze. They were married by the Minister of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Hamburg in 1847."

Here is a screen capture from FamilySearch of their indexing of the 1851 Canadian census:

It is a bit difficult to read, but, you will note there is a Margaret Zinkan listed. Our Margaret is married to Valentine Ruthig by now, and indeed appears with him on the 1851 census:

"Valintine Ruthig, born Germany, age 28; Margaret Zinkan, born Germany, age 22; Mary, age 3, born Canada; John, age 2, born Canada." (From the 1851 census, Easthope Township, Perth County, Ontario, Canada, extracted by Moi.)

Note it says she is Margaret Zinkan, that is because in this area of Ontario, many of the brides were recorded with their maiden names stated. Yes, we do have a gold mine of data here!

So, is the Margaret Zinkan indexed above, the bride of Valentine?

Here is the 1851 census, what do you think? Note: This image has been cropped and edited for use here. The full page is NOT shown. They are down at the bottom of the page.

~~I have yet to locate Valentine and his bride Margaret on the 1861 Canadian Census.~~

Let me correct that to, I have never found them on the 1861 census UNTIL now. Many hours after starting this post, as I was about to schedule it, I tried ONE more time. At the Library and Archives of Canada site. I searched ruth* and val* And, lookie see what popped up!

Search Results: Census of 1861 (Canada East, Canada West, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia)
Digitized page of Census of 1861 (Canada East, Canada West, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) for 4391951_00301
Census Year: 1861
Item Number: 1941430
Surname: Ruthey
Given Name(s): Vallentin
Age: 40
Province: Canada West (Ontario)
District Name: Perth
Sub-District Name: North Easthope

Vallentin RUTHEY. Really? WOW!

Here is a bit of the 1861 census, just a screen capture for now.

The data I extracted from the 1871 census is:

North Easthope, Perth County, Ontario, Canada: Valentine, age 48, born Germany, Lutheran, of German heritage, farmer; Margaret, age 40, born Germany, Lutheran, of German heritage; John, age 18, born Ontario; Elisabeth, age 17, born Ontario; Catherine, age 15, born Ontario; Josephine, age 13, born Ontario; Margaret, age 11, born Ontario; Henery, age 9, born Ontario; Louise, age 7, born Ontario; Annie, age 5, born Ontario; Helen, age 3, born Ontario; Hedwig, 10 months old, born May, born Ontario.

I do not seem to have a image of the 1881 census entry for Valentine and Margaret, but, here is the index entry from FamilySearch for this family:

Valantine Ruthig, "Canada Census, 1881"
Name: Valantine Ruthig
Name Note:
Gender: Male
Age: 59y
Birth Year: 1822
Birthplace: Germany
Marital Status: Married
Occupation: Farmer
Ethnicity: German
Religion: Lutharian
Head of Household Name: Valantine Ruthig
Born During Last Year:
Event Place: Easthope North, Perth North, Ontario, Canada
District Number: 172
Sub-District: D
Division: 1
Page Number: 10
Household ID: 825827
Family Number: 48
Digital Folder Number: 4467152
Image Number: 00579
GS Film number: 1375907
Affiliate Film Number: C-13271
Household Gender Age Birthplace
Valantine Ruthig M 59y Germany
Margret Ruthig F 50y Germany
Henery S Ruthig M 19y Ontario
Louisa Ruthig F 17y Ontario
Anna C Ruthig F 15y Ontario
Helena C Ruthig F 13y Ontario
Hedwig K Ruthig F 10y Ontario
William H Ruthig M 7y Ontario

Margaret and Valentine had 12 children: Mary, John Henry, Elizabeth, Katherina, Josephine, Margaretha, Heinrich (Henery) Peter Valentine, Louisa, Anna Caroline, Helena Caroline, Hedwig Marie Katherine, and William Heinrich.

Margret died on Aug 12, 1889 in New Hamburg, Waterloo County, Ontario, Canada at age 58, and was buried in Riverside Cemetery, New Hamburg, Waterloo County, Ontario, Canada.

This is her death record, please note I have digitally removed other death records on the same page, retaining only that of Margaret. No parent's names are recorded.

My wish list for Margret/Margaret, birth record (any record actually) showing her parent's names (would require more work to determine where in Germany she was born).

A copy of her marriage record.

~~1861 census information, which must be indexed/written so horribly that I will only find by a line by line search.~~ See new information found, hot off the presses, err, internet. One small victory for Carol!

Look for copies of the 1871 and 1881 census reports in my queue of images and documents that are not linked, or procure same.

Lutheran church records from Ontario. Any newspaper articles, obituaries, marriage notices, anything would also be welcomed with happy dances and little yelps of joy.

And, of course, what researcher would not desire a photo of the ancestor? So, my wish list would include a photo of Margret.

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Sunday's Stories, 52 Ancestor Weeks, Week # 1, Katherina Ruthig Gerth

I am behind in THE Trip, THE Encore' posts, I am behind in The Book of Me, Written by You, so, I don't really need another meme challenge to join into, but, I am going to anyway. Amy Johnson Crow, whose blog is No Story Too Small, has started a once a week challenge to blog about one ancestor a week, tell their story, biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on that one ancestor. It will be a bit of challenge for me personally to find 52 ancestors that I have not already blogged about. I mean, I have been writing here at Reflections for almost 5 years. But, I am going to give this a shot anyway. I miss blogging more about my genealogy, so, committing to the project may force me back to one of my major afflictions in life, family history. I am going to try to post these on Sunday, thus the name, Sunday's Stories.

Wish me luck!

Katherina Ruthig, daughter of Valentine Ruthig\Rudig, and Margret (Marguarita) Zinkann, was born on March 26, 1854 in North Easthope, Perth County, Ontario, Canada. She was baptized in the Lutheran church in North Easthope, Perth County, Ontario, Canada on April 25, 1855.

According to Pastor August Deichmann's obituary in the church records of St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church in Pigeon/Linkville, Huron County, Michigan Katherine was confirmed April 18, 1869 in Canada.

Katherina married Peter Gerth, son of John Gerth and Barbara Schich on Feb 10, 1874 in Canada. I have yet to locate that marriage in Canadian records, the date was derived from his death notice in church records in Huron County, Michigan.

Katherina and Peter emigrated to the United States on March 27, 1894.

They had 12 children: Mary, Edward Conrad, Emma Maggie, Henrich (Henry) Peter, Johann (John) Heinrich, Lurina Catharina, Katharina Josephine, Martha Anna, Lilly Anna, Alma Rebecca, Peter Andreas, and Louise Friederike.

She died on Oct 27, 1915 in Linkville, Huron County, Michigan, at age 61, and was buried on Oct 31, 1915 in St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery, Pigeon/Linkville, Huron County, Michigan.

You may have noticed her given name on her death certificate is spelled with a "C", not a "K". And, it is Catherine, NOT Katharina. This is a German family, spellings are seldom the same for any one person from their birth to their death.

Katherine's given name is found spelled many ways, in the 1861 census for North Easthope Township, Perth County, Ontario, Canada her name is spelled Catarina. In the death records of Huron County, Michigan her name is spelled Catherine.

A copy of Katherine's newspaper obituary was given to the compiler (original newspaper source unknown to the compiler), the original was written in German and has been translated by a family member:
"October 28, in the morning at 1 o'clock A.M., Mrs. Katherine Gerth, maiden name Ruthig, died after a long illness. She was born 1854 in North Easthope in Canada and married in 1874 to Peter Gerth. Out of this marriage they had 12 children, three of died very early. Three sons and six daughters survived her and also 21 grandchildren. Four grandchildren died earlier. She also leaves 3 brothers and 6 sisters. Her age was 61 years, 7 months and 2 days. She was buried on Sunday by the Protestant Lutheran Church of St. Paul's in Linkville, in the cemetery of the congregation. She was a very devoted member of this congregation for 20 years."

Pastor August Deichmann of St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church of Pigeon/Linkville, Huron County, Michigan wrote quite lengthy entries at the time of a person's death. Thanks to a family member, as well as family and friends in Germany we have the following translation from the original German entry:
"On October 31, 1915, Mrs. Katharina Gerth, whose maiden name was Ruthig, was buried by August Deichmann. She was born on March 26, 1855, in North Easthope in Canada and was the legitimate daughter of Valentin Ruthig and his wife Margarethe, whose maiden name was Zinkan. She was baptized in the Lutheran church in North Easthope on April 25, 1855. After she had been taught the tenants of the Church, she was confirmed on April 18, 1869 in the Lutheran church in New Hamburg. She maintained true to her confirmation vows and remained an active member of the Lutheran Church for the remainder of her life. On February 10, 1874 she entered holy matrimony with Peter Gerth, to whom she was a faithful and conscientious wife during the forty-one year marriage. The marriage produced twelve children, of which two died at young ages, and to their great sadness, their eldest son died about one half year before she died. She is survived by three sons, six daughters, and twenty-one grandchildren, while four grandchildren have already died. Although she was healthy for most of her life, she developed an inner illness that caused her much pain. In order to relieve this pain, she underwent an operation approximately four months ago, through which the source of her illness could only be partially removed because it was determined that in addition to gall stones, she had liver cancer. Her recovery occurred slowly so that she could only go home approximately four weeks ago. But instead of allowing herself to recover and to grow stronger, she took on more and more, so that the hope for recovery had to soon be given up, and she prepared herself willingly, with confidence, for her end. She had to endure much pain at the end, but through it all she remained true to her faith in Him, who would soon free her from her suffering. After she had take Holy Communion one last time, her health worsened visibly and on last Thursday morning at one o'clock, she passed away gently. In addition to her deeply faithful husband, her nine children and twenty-one grandchildren, she left behind three brothers and six sisters, of which most came from long distances to pay their respects for the beloved sister. She lived sixty years, seven months and two days. She rests in the peace of the Lord and the eternal light illuminates her."

Katherine has a memorial at Find A Grave.

My wish list for Katherina: Documentation for birth, baptism, confirmation, marriage. And, even though there is a photo of her headstone at Find A Grave, personally I find it pretty much impossible to make out the inscription, so, to finish off my wish list for her, I would like to have a photo of her headstone that I can make out the inscription. I have her death certificate and her will.

* Additional source data can be obtained by contacting me, see the right hand column for a yahoo email address.

** Button courtesy of Amy at her original post for this challenge.

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Monday, August 29, 2011

I Was Born WHERE?? Elizabeth Marie Ruthig

CABS for Reflections From the Fence

You know the routine, you are working on a blog post, the next thing you know you are scanning over 100 pages of documents that you never managed to get around to before, and soon you are surfing in and out of other web sites, like FamilySearch.org. Amazing how that happens, one thing runs into another.

Recently during one such seige, I opened Elizabeth's edit screen and multimedia events in my data base to add her confirmation record, and I re-discovered that she has two birth records. In two different countries! Not counties, countries. See:

Above, record from North Easthope, Perth County, Ontario, Canada. Note: I have electronically moved things around a bit on this record. I have not changed the data, just removed the extra stuff, aka, other records, from the page. In my data base, I only want to show the portion of the page that contains the party of interest. I obtained this record when I had a paid "World" membership at Ancestry.com. I no longer have any membership at Ancestry.com, so I cannot provide you a direct link to the original image. I cannot find the original downloaded image on my hard drive either, cause, no matter how careful I am, it seems that now and then something gets misfiled or deleted. Rats!

Above, part of page 1 of 2 that contain the birth record of the same child, but, recorded in Huron County, Michigan. Again, note, I have electronically edited the document, not changed it, just deleted many of the records above Elizabeth's, maintaining the column headings. The full document can be viewed at FamilySearch.org. If you inspect the full document you will note she was reportedly born in Winsor, Huron County, Michigan, represented in this image by ditto marks.

Here is the second page of her birth record as found in the Huron County Michigan records, again edited. You can find this page at FamilySearch.org as well. When you have the above record open, look for the little portion that says, Image 917 of 1521. It is near the top of the page, above the image. Click the arrow to go to Image 918. That is how I found it! Did not know that page 2 was available, now I have some serious review to do. Going back and getting page 2 of several records where I failed to download it before, cause, mmm, I did not know I could do that "go to the next image" thing in this set of records. Yahooooo for available parent's names, boohoo for having to redo. Life is sooooo rough these days for internet family researchers! LOL

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Mary Ruthig married Johannes Arthur Steinback 14 Jun 1916 in Linkville, Huron County, Michigan. She died 28 Jan 1949 in Saginaw, Saginaw County, Michigan and was laid to rest at the Roselawn Memorial Gardens, Saginaw, Saginaw County, Michigan. Lizzie and John had only one child, Richard Arthur Steinback, who died at the age of 10 years.

I currently have no photo of Lizzie, nor one of her headstone (if there is one). Currently there is no memorial for Lizzie, John or their son, Richard, at Find A Grave.

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