I have discovered a most curious fact about Antonio Motta and Grazia Chite'. They married each other in Catania, Italy, in 1905, but that was a few months before their fourth child was born! Yesterday, I located the birth record (1899) for their first child to see if I could discover any clues as to why they delayed their marriage. I have not yet been able to decipher all the words on the document but so far I'm making out the fact that Lucia was the legitimate child of Antonio and Grazia and that their marriage was cebrated in 1905.
Does anyone have any ideas as to why, with so many Catholic Churches accessible in the large city of Catania, Antonio and Grazia waited so long to get married?
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Lutz and Younger
I have been working on two families at once lately. From the Younger researcher, which I mentioned in the last entry, I received the research of Wilma Norton. So far I am very pleased with her work. She has listed numerous sources and seems to have been as thorough as possible. From her research, I have learned that our Youngers came to Missouri from North Carolina. Prior to migrating to North Carolina, they lived in Viginia in the 1700s along the tidewater riverways on tobacco plantations. Land records show they owned fewer than a thousand acres, so their plantations were small compared to others. This opens a new window into the lives of some of our colonial ancestors and beckons me to learn what I can about the early Virginia plantation lifestyle.
Regarding the Lutz family, I have discovered a book written by Margaret D. Lutes in 1983. Her work contains no speculation, but only facts extracted from primary sources. Her information covers the immigrant ancestor, Johannes Georg Lutz, from his entry into Philadelphia, through to his descendants. Johannes did not live long after arriving in America. Two of his sons migrated to North Carolina and became known among the family as Pioneer George and Pioneer Jacob. Many descendants still live in North Carolina and strong family traditions regarding the family history are still alive. Eventually, John and Sarah Lutz moved out west to Missouri. These were the parents of Joe Lutz, who made the Great Land Run into Oklahoma in 1893. Unfortunately, Mrs. Lutes' information regarding this line of descendancy ends with the family's removal to Missouri and does not cover the exciting time of the land rush. Should there ever be an addendum written to this book, I hope to be a contributor.
Regarding the Lutz family, I have discovered a book written by Margaret D. Lutes in 1983. Her work contains no speculation, but only facts extracted from primary sources. Her information covers the immigrant ancestor, Johannes Georg Lutz, from his entry into Philadelphia, through to his descendants. Johannes did not live long after arriving in America. Two of his sons migrated to North Carolina and became known among the family as Pioneer George and Pioneer Jacob. Many descendants still live in North Carolina and strong family traditions regarding the family history are still alive. Eventually, John and Sarah Lutz moved out west to Missouri. These were the parents of Joe Lutz, who made the Great Land Run into Oklahoma in 1893. Unfortunately, Mrs. Lutes' information regarding this line of descendancy ends with the family's removal to Missouri and does not cover the exciting time of the land rush. Should there ever be an addendum written to this book, I hope to be a contributor.
Chite' Family
At the end of May, I found myself in Utah, about an hour away from the Family History Library. I just couldn't resist the urge to spend a day there to work. The trip was quite profitable. I found the birth records of all of the children belonging to Carmelo and Carmela Chite' of Nicolosi, Sicily.
Speaking of the Chite's, I have been corresponding with a Chite' cousin, who lives in Knoxville. Her mother was born to Salvatore Chite', one of the above Carmelo's children. She married a non-Italian and he whisked her away from Washington, D.C. Thus our cousin did not grow up around her Italian family and is now trying to connect with her roots. I found her on a Rootsweb message board. She was able to tell me a little bit about the Chite's brothers, who immigrated to America, I was able to share some information whe her about their sister Grazia Chite' Motta.
Speaking of the Chite's, I have been corresponding with a Chite' cousin, who lives in Knoxville. Her mother was born to Salvatore Chite', one of the above Carmelo's children. She married a non-Italian and he whisked her away from Washington, D.C. Thus our cousin did not grow up around her Italian family and is now trying to connect with her roots. I found her on a Rootsweb message board. She was able to tell me a little bit about the Chite's brothers, who immigrated to America, I was able to share some information whe her about their sister Grazia Chite' Motta.
About That Rootsweb
It has proven to be quite a useful tool and has turned up more leads than I can handle all at once. I posted our family tree on Rootsweb for all to see, and I have gotten several responses from people wanting to compare notes.
One very distant Hahn cousin has contacted me. We have decided the common ancestor must be Michael Hahn, who immigrated to America in the 1700's. He had several children; John was her ancestor, and Adam was ours. She has created a family tree on a website host and has invited me to add to it. Right away, though I see a problem with her information on our Samuel Hahn (b. 1810). She has his family mixed up with another Hahn family and I will have to get that straightened out for her. It is not the first time I have seen this family all mixed up.
Finally, I have been contacted, through Rootsweb, by a Younger cousin. The common ancestor is John W. Younger.
I don't think I helped her out much, unless the family group record I sent her on Tennessee Younger and Robert Lutes had new inforamation for her. However, she was helpful to me in adding a bit more information to our records regarding Arah Younger McCants, her great-grandmother.
One very distant Hahn cousin has contacted me. We have decided the common ancestor must be Michael Hahn, who immigrated to America in the 1700's. He had several children; John was her ancestor, and Adam was ours. She has created a family tree on a website host and has invited me to add to it. Right away, though I see a problem with her information on our Samuel Hahn (b. 1810). She has his family mixed up with another Hahn family and I will have to get that straightened out for her. It is not the first time I have seen this family all mixed up.
Finally, I have been contacted, through Rootsweb, by a Younger cousin. The common ancestor is John W. Younger.
I don't think I helped her out much, unless the family group record I sent her on Tennessee Younger and Robert Lutes had new inforamation for her. However, she was helpful to me in adding a bit more information to our records regarding Arah Younger McCants, her great-grandmother.
Younger Outlaw Story
This tale is as well-told in her family as it is ours, though she has not been able to find a link between her Arah and the boys. She has corresponded with another Younger researcher, who has reached the same conclusion--that there is no link. Like me, our cousin has found her family to be deeply disappointed to hear her say there is no connection. There are members of the St. Clair County, Missouri, Younger descendants who desperately want to claim kinship to these criminals from Jackson County, and I can't understand the obsession. If it were true, so be it. I'm after the truth, not the myths. In my opinion, we should celebrate those who DO make up our ancestry and not those who don't. Let us celebrate our humble and obscure ancestors--the pioneers, the soldiers, the women, the immigrants, the farmers, the inventors, the musicians, the merchants, the tradesmen, and the survivors. Let us not be on a quest to hunt down the sensational, the famous, or the infamous. There may be none of those.
Thadens Are Frisian
I have been in touch with our cousin, Lenchen Gericke, born Thaden, who lives in Germany. She has informed me of some family history I never knew before. I must study this more, but for now, if I have the story straight, we descend from the Frisians, an ethnic group in northern Germany. Descendants of Frisians have managed to maintain much of their culture and language and continue to live in the northern part of Holland and neighboring Germany in the region of the North Sea. They were the first of the peoples inhabiting Germany to gain their independence from the Vikings. They valued freedom with a passion and were the first foreign group to support the American colonies’ move toward their own independence. The region in which our Thadens lived was Ostfresia, or East Fresia, now located in Germany.
Cousin Lenchen tells me that around 1100, the tribes got together and formed a farming cooperative called the Theelacht. Each clan was represented at the coop meetings by a clan chief. This honor was passed down to the oldest son, I believe. In case there were no sons, the oldest daughter bore the title. Although the necessity for such a coop does not exist today, the tradition of clan chiefs does, and it is still considered quite an honor. Lenchen is presently the clan chief in our family.
Further study into the emigration of Ostfresians to this country sounds like passages I have read about Syrian emigrants and Italian emigrants. Sometimes half the population of a village packed up for America, and the greatest influx was from 1850 to 1900. The reasons were usually a bad economy, corrupt politics, and lack of opportunity.
Our Thaden ancestors, Herman and Bernard were here by 1860. Most immigrants embarked at the port of New Orleans. I know this is true for Bernard. Then, most new arrivals headed up the Mississippi River to settle the farmlands of Illinois and Iowa and even Wisconsin. There are still some towns in Illinois and Iowa with a strong Frisian culture. I do not know yet why Herman decided on Atlanta and why Bernard settled on Washington, D.C.
I find this subject fascinating and intend to research more.
Note: There was an adoption between our living generations and our immigrant, Herman Thaden. Therefore we probably cannot claim a biological link to the Frisians. However, the legacy passed on from our Thaden ancestors is ours, just the same.
(Map from Wikipedia Commons at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ostfriesland_de.svg )
Cousin Lenchen tells me that around 1100, the tribes got together and formed a farming cooperative called the Theelacht. Each clan was represented at the coop meetings by a clan chief. This honor was passed down to the oldest son, I believe. In case there were no sons, the oldest daughter bore the title. Although the necessity for such a coop does not exist today, the tradition of clan chiefs does, and it is still considered quite an honor. Lenchen is presently the clan chief in our family.
Further study into the emigration of Ostfresians to this country sounds like passages I have read about Syrian emigrants and Italian emigrants. Sometimes half the population of a village packed up for America, and the greatest influx was from 1850 to 1900. The reasons were usually a bad economy, corrupt politics, and lack of opportunity.
Our Thaden ancestors, Herman and Bernard were here by 1860. Most immigrants embarked at the port of New Orleans. I know this is true for Bernard. Then, most new arrivals headed up the Mississippi River to settle the farmlands of Illinois and Iowa and even Wisconsin. There are still some towns in Illinois and Iowa with a strong Frisian culture. I do not know yet why Herman decided on Atlanta and why Bernard settled on Washington, D.C.
I find this subject fascinating and intend to research more.
Note: There was an adoption between our living generations and our immigrant, Herman Thaden. Therefore we probably cannot claim a biological link to the Frisians. However, the legacy passed on from our Thaden ancestors is ours, just the same.
(Map from Wikipedia Commons at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ostfriesland_de.svg )
Picture of Mattie Love (Meigs) Thaden
I received this picture in the mail today from my cousin, Sherry. She writes, "Frances Thaden Risner gave me this picture on one of her trips to Albany [Ga]. She is the daughter of Mattie Meigs Thaden. Frances furnished much information on the Thaden and Deckner families."
Delilah Hahn--No More Confusion
I believe I have finally figured out the confusion with Delilah (Hahn) Thompson and just exactly where she fits into her family. Here’s the problem:
I have notes made from what appears to be Hahn Bible records passed on to me by Marcelle (Hahn) Klein. They have been very accurate; however the birth information on Samuel Hahn’s five children by his first wife lacks detail, and his first wife remains unnamed.
There are several children listed for Sam and his second wife, Nancy (Harless) Hahn. According to the Bible records, the first child, Delilah, was born before Sam and Nancy were married. This fact has always been puzzling.
Did Sam and Nancy have to wait for a preacher to come through the area to make the union official? I think not; Darke County, Ohio was quite populated in 1844. Finding a judge or a minister would have been no problem.
Did Delilah actually belong to Sam’s first wife? Again, I don’t think so for two reasons. First, she is clearly listed in the Bible record as Nancy’s child. Second, Delilah was a recurring name among the Harless families from Giles County, Virginia, where Nancy was born.
The first census to name all members of the household is the 1850 census. The Hahn children, born after 1840, were very young, and accuracy of ages among young children on the census was higher than when those children grew older and forgot or fudged on their ages. The information on the 1850 census matches the information in the Bible notes. It shows that Delilah’s age fits in among the first five children and that she is the same age, in years, as one of them. This would lead the researcher to believe that Delilah was a twin; however, such is not noted on the census like it usually is, and it is likely this information would be included in the trustworthy Bible notes, but it is not.
I conclude that not only Sam, but Nancy also, was married before. Sam had five children and then his wife must have died. Nancy had one child, Delilah, when she was nineteen years old, and then something happened to her husband. The two needed spouses and another parent for their children so they combined families. Delilah was three years old at the time.
Thus, Delilah, a Harless name, appears with Nancy in the Bible records, yet with an earlier birth date than the last child from Sam’s first marriage. And she appears on the census in between the children from the first marriage because of her age, bears the same age as one of those children, and yet is not labeled a twin.
This conclusion only opens up more questions. We’ve always wanted to know who Sam’s first wife was. Now we must ask who Nancy’s first husband was. This means descendants of Delilah (Hahn) Thompson have a biological line other than that of Samuel Hahn.
I have notes made from what appears to be Hahn Bible records passed on to me by Marcelle (Hahn) Klein. They have been very accurate; however the birth information on Samuel Hahn’s five children by his first wife lacks detail, and his first wife remains unnamed.
There are several children listed for Sam and his second wife, Nancy (Harless) Hahn. According to the Bible records, the first child, Delilah, was born before Sam and Nancy were married. This fact has always been puzzling.
Did Sam and Nancy have to wait for a preacher to come through the area to make the union official? I think not; Darke County, Ohio was quite populated in 1844. Finding a judge or a minister would have been no problem.
Did Delilah actually belong to Sam’s first wife? Again, I don’t think so for two reasons. First, she is clearly listed in the Bible record as Nancy’s child. Second, Delilah was a recurring name among the Harless families from Giles County, Virginia, where Nancy was born.
The first census to name all members of the household is the 1850 census. The Hahn children, born after 1840, were very young, and accuracy of ages among young children on the census was higher than when those children grew older and forgot or fudged on their ages. The information on the 1850 census matches the information in the Bible notes. It shows that Delilah’s age fits in among the first five children and that she is the same age, in years, as one of them. This would lead the researcher to believe that Delilah was a twin; however, such is not noted on the census like it usually is, and it is likely this information would be included in the trustworthy Bible notes, but it is not.
I conclude that not only Sam, but Nancy also, was married before. Sam had five children and then his wife must have died. Nancy had one child, Delilah, when she was nineteen years old, and then something happened to her husband. The two needed spouses and another parent for their children so they combined families. Delilah was three years old at the time.
Thus, Delilah, a Harless name, appears with Nancy in the Bible records, yet with an earlier birth date than the last child from Sam’s first marriage. And she appears on the census in between the children from the first marriage because of her age, bears the same age as one of those children, and yet is not labeled a twin.
This conclusion only opens up more questions. We’ve always wanted to know who Sam’s first wife was. Now we must ask who Nancy’s first husband was. This means descendants of Delilah (Hahn) Thompson have a biological line other than that of Samuel Hahn.
Croon Line Goes Back Further
I googled the name of Gerd Jakobs Thaden and found him linked to a website on FamilyTreeSeeker at http://ged.ge.ohost.de/index.htm?ref=CroonAnna1807 containing the family tree of his wife Anna Helena Croon. I have since written to the submitter, Michael Beuss. I sent him copies of Gerd's birth and death records from the Lutheran Church in Dornum, Germany, and am anxiously awaiting his opinion.
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