Family Friends Friday: The Steiner Sisters Visit Miss Pearl Hill

Using one of my newspaper archive subscriptions, I've discovered that hubby's maternal grandma had a cousin we've never heard of.

Here's the tiny item that tipped me off, from the social column of an Indiana newspaper from June, 1901.

It reads: "Mrs. E. Post, of Knoxville, Tenn; Miss Floyda Steiner, of Upper Sandusky, Ohio, and Mrs. Frank Rhuark, of Huntington [Indiana] have returned home after a visit with their cousin, Miss Pearl Hill."

• Mrs. E. Post is Margaret Mary Steiner, who married Elroy Post in 1883 and moved to Knoxville. She was the oldest of the living Steiner sisters.
• Miss Floyda Steiner is hubby's grandma, who married Frank A. Gottfried in 1898, was living with him in Wyandot County, OH in 1900 at the time of the census, and was divorced by the time the above newspaper clipping appeared in mid-1901. Floyda was the baby of the family, born in 1878, 26 years after her parents had their first child.
• Mrs. Frank Rhuark is Etta Blanche Steiner, who married Frank Rhuark in 1888.

There were other Steiner sisters (Minnie Estella and Carrie) but they weren't along on this visit to a cousin whose name I've never seen. If only the newspaper had reported where in the world Pearl Hill lived!

52 Ancestors #32: The Maiden Name Mystery of Second Great-Grandma Elizabeth Steiner

The scrap of paper at left shows notes made by hubby's grandfather (Brice Larimer McClure) about his Steiner grandparents--hubby's great-great-grandparents.

Clearly, Brice knew how old his grandma Elizabeth Steiner was when she died but not the age of his grandpa. I'm still looking for Jacob Steiner's death date and place (he died before the 1860 census).

What was Elizabeth Steiner's maiden name? She lived from 1802 to 1864 and, judging by the birth date of her oldest child, she married Jacob S. Steiner in the early 1820s, either in Pennsylvania (where he was born) or in Ohio (where she was born).

Elizabeth and Jacob Steiner had nine children that I know of:

• Sarah Steiner (b. about 1824)
• William Steiner (1827-1899)
• Edward George Steiner (1830-1880)
• James M. Steiner (b. about 1832)
• Samuel D. Steiner (1835-1901)
• Elizabeth A. Steiner (b. about 1837)
• Benjamin Franklin Steiner (1840-1924)
• Stephen Decatur Steiner (b. about 1842, d. 1933)
• Mary M. Steiner (b. about 1846)

Last year, hubby and I visited Elizabeth's grave in the bucolic Oceola Cemetery #2, Crawford County, Ohio. We only found the cemetery thanks to detailed instructions from a kind Find a Grave volunteer who knows the area well. RIP, Elizabeth. Someday, we'll know your maiden name and be able to trace your family back even further.

NGS 2014: Prothonotary, Census Tips, and Case Studies

With the elusive McClure, Steiner, and Rinehart Pennsylvania ancestors in mind, I attended three final sessions at NGS last Saturday.

• What's a prothonotary? Now I know, thanks to Elissa Powell, and I have a better idea of what kinds of courthouse records to seek out in Pennsylvania. For the 1741 marriage of Robert Larimer and Mary Gallagher, however, Elissa suggests looking for church records (if I'm lucky enough to find something that early).
• Census tips from Jason Harrison offered a LOT of ideas to try. Here are only a few: (1) Check Ancestry, Heritage Quest, and Family Search, because there may be different transcriptions and different scans of the same pages in each place. (2) Search in a specific town and specific ED, when I know that info. (3) Try the Soundex search in Ancestry. (4) Try * and ? for wildcard searches. (5) Try nicknames, not just name variations. For instance, Nancy might be Agnes, Nan, or Nannie (I had this exact example). (6) Try initials instead of a first name/middle name. (7) Search for other family members or known neighbors, then look at who's living in the same area. 
• Case studies cited by Tom Jones reinforced how someone else's experience can teach me a new technique or a different way to reframe the question. It's the same with genealogy blogs, not just written case studies in magazines. I've learned so much by reading what bloggers did to break through their brick walls.

Also, I bought the session CD for Henry Hoff's "Research Strategies for Upstate New York." Friends in the audience raved about his suggestions, which I want to try when researching the Bentley and Morgan families from Oswego. His session ran at the same time as Elissa's prothonotary session, unfortunately for me.

For lunch, a small group of us walked to the Jefferson Hotel. I enjoyed a salad topped with a pretty and yummy crispy poached egg. The hotel has its own methodology, but you can get an idea of how to make this unusual egg dish by checking out this site. And like everyone else in Richmond, we had our photos taken with the alligator in the courtyard.

NGS 2014: Looking for Local Info--NARA, Periodicals, Newspapers

Day 3 of the NGS Conference (final attendance: 2,593!) was NARA day for me plus two other sessions about finding my ancestors in local records and newspapers:

• NARA's finding aids. I've been too intimidated by the scope and diversity of the National Archives site to search it in detail. Pam Sayre says to start on the "Research our records" tab and learn about the online catalog. With her excellent ideas, hints from the Geni Guide (Guide to Genealogical Research in NARA), and the online index at the Archives Library Info Center, I hope to be able to figure out how to get WWI records for my Farkas great uncles, Mahler in-laws, and some ancestors in the Wood line.
• Federal land tract books. Thanks to Angela Packer McGhie's presentation, I think I'll look into the land records for hubby's Steiner, Rinehart, and McClure farm owners. Among the sites she suggested investigating are HistoryGeo and of course the general land office records from BLM.
• Maps, maps, maps. Rick Sayre's excellent talk on NARA's cartographic records inspired me to dig deeper into those maps so I can better envision population movements, economic impact, geographic features that affected immigrants' lives, and transportation possibilities. This will be especially helpful in tracing the McClures who left Virginia for Ohio, and the Pennsylvania Steiners and Rineharts. What were the common westward routes and how/when did towns and farms develop? Maps will help me learn more.
• PERSI and beyond. Don Rightmyer wasn't just focused on Kentucky in his talk about state and regional genealogical periodicals. He reminded me to go back to PERSI on a regular basis and also check HeritageQuest and Find My Past for periodical listings to articles about everything from cemeteries and published obits to photo identification and social activities of our ancestors.
• Criminals, soldiers, apprentices, and the news. Josh Taylor had the audience smiling and nodding as he described the databases we can use at Find My Past for locating British Army personnel (hello, Slatter great uncles), news articles about criminals and scoundrels, workhouse records, and apprenticeships (Shehen and Slatter family?). My local Family History Center has access to Find My Past, Fold3, and other databases--can't wait to get there and do more research!

Surname Saturday: Rineharts and Steiners and Larimers, Oh My!

These surnames from hubby's family tree will be my main focus during sessions at the NGS conference:

• Rinehart - Joseph W. Rinehart (hubby's 2d great-grand) was born in Pennsylvania in 1806, died in Nevada, Ohio in 1888. When did the Rinehart family get to America? Who were Joseph's parents? Sessions on Pennsylvania and possible German connections might help!
• Steiner - Jacob S. Steiner (another g-grand of hubby's) was born in Pennsylvania in 1802, died in Crawford County, Ohio, before 1860 (he's not in that census). Where/when did Steiners come from? Who were his parents? Elizabeth Rinehart married Edward George Steiner in 1851 in Crawford County, OH (see above).
• Larimer and O'Gallagher - Robert Larimer (hubby's 5th great-grand) was shipwrecked enroute from Northern Ireland to America. Was he part of a family of Scotch-Irish immigrants? What is the family connection between the Larimers, the Shorts, and the Works? They held an annual reunion for several years in Elkhart, Indiana, and intermarried. Robert Larimer married Mary Gallagher (or O'Gallagher) in Pennsylvania. Where were the O'Gallaghers from and when did they arrive?
• Smith - Brice Smith (hubby's 4th great-grand) was born in Cumberland Cty, PA, in 1756 and died in Fairfield Cty, OH, in 1828. He was the first Brice we know of in the family, but not the last. Supposedly his father Robert Smith was born in Limerick, and Robert married Janet "Jean" in 1751 in Limerick. What's their story--why and when did they come to America? Sessions on Irish genealogy may help me research the Smith family.
• Bentley and Morgan - Still looking for the origins of William Tyler Bentley, born about 1795 in upstate New York, and his wife Olivia Morgan, also from upstate NY. Were they originally from England? Session on UK research might help.
• McClure and McFall - Still trying to find siblings for Benjamin McClure, son of John McClure and Ann McFall, who married in Rockbridge cty, VA, in 1801. Sessions on Scotch-Irish immigration will help me trace these families from Pennsylvania to Virginia and especially beyond.

Surname Saturday: What I Didn't Discover in 2013

Despite numerous exciting breakthroughs during 2013, I still have a number of important questions that were not answered this year.

Here's what I wanted to know about four of hubby's great-great grandparents that I wasn't able to uncover this year:

• Steiner. Where and when did the family of Jacob S. Steiner arrive in the US? Jacob was born about 1802 in Pennsylvania, according to Census records, and the last evidence I have of him is his residence in Tod, Crawford county, Ohio in the 1850 Census. Jacob married Elizabeth [UNK--another mystery], who died in 1864 in Tod. Was Jacob's family from Switzerland or Germany?
• Slatter. John Slatter Sr., born in Oxfordshire, England, in 1811. Where and when did he die? He was a cook, and the last evidence I have of him is his residence in Banbury, Oxfordshire, in the 1841 Census.
• Shehen. John Shehen, born in 1801 somewhere in Ireland, materialized in Marylebone, London by 1841, with his wife Mary. Mary [UNK--unsolved mystery] and John had at least three children while living in England: Thomas, Mary, and Michael. Where were John and wife Mary born, and when did they arrive in England? Daughter Mary married John Slatter Jr., but I've never found her death details, either.
• Rinehart. Joseph W. Rinehart was born in 1806 in Pennsylvania and died in Nevada, OH, in 1888. Where and when did the Rinehart family arrive in the US? Were they Swiss or German or Austrian? Joseph's mother's name was Elizabeth but his father's name I have yet to discover.

Happily, I expect to learn new tools and techniques for tackling many of these challenges while attending the National Genealogical Society's 2014 conference. And if I'm really  lucky, one of the attendees or instructors will be researching the same surnames!

Thankful Thursday: Thanks to our ancestors who made Thanksgiving 2013 possible

On Thanksgiving, I'm giving thanks to the courageous journey-takers who came to America and made it possible for me and my family to be here today.

My side:

• Farkas ancestors: Above, a Thanksgiving dinner with the Farkas Family Tree, descendants of Moritz Farkas and Lena Kunstler, who arrived in New York City in 1899 and 1900, respectively, bringing their children from Hungary just a little later. I'm one of the "hula girls" near the back at far left.
• Schwartz ancestors: Tivadar (Teddy) Schwartz left Ungvar, Hungary (now Uzhorod, Ukraine) in 1902. He encouraged two siblings to join him in New York City, Sam (who arrived in 1904) and Mary (who arrived in 1906). Teddy married Hermina Farkas (daughter of Moritz and Lena) and settled in the Bronx.
• Burk and Mahler ancestors: Isaac Burk, a skilled cabinet maker, arrived in New York City from Lithuania in 1904. His bride-to-be, Henrietta Mahler, was a small child when she came to New York City from Latvia in 1885 or 1886, with her parents Meyer Mahler and Tillie Rose Jacobs. 

Hubby's side:

• Mayflower ancestors: My hubby has four Mayflower ancestors, but only two survived to give thanks on the first Thanksgiving in 1621: Isaac Allerton and his young daughter, Mary Allerton. The Allerton line connected with the Cushman line and eventually married into the Wood family.
• Wood ancestors: John "The Mariner" Wood, Sr., was the journey-taker in the Wood family. Born in England about 1590, he died in Portsmouth, RI in 1655, leaving a tradition of carpentry and sea-faring occupations throughout the Wood family for many generations. 
• McClure ancestors: Halbert McClure and his family journeyed from Raphoe Parish, County Donegal, to Philadelphia and then walked to Virginia to settle down. I'll be researching these ancestors more thoroughly at next year's NGS Conference, which takes place in Richmond on May 7-10.
• Larimer ancestors: Robert Larimer took the perilous voyage from the North of Ireland to Philadelphia--but was shipwrecked along the way. I've told his story before.
• Slatter ancestors: John Slatter Sr. was probably the first journey-taker in this English family, arriving in Ohio around 1889. I haven't yet located the ship records for his daughter Mary Slatter, who married James Edgar Wood in 1898.
• Steiner and Rinehart ancestors: Still on my to-do list is the task of identifying the first ancestors of Jacob S. Steiner to arrive in America. Jake himself was born in Pennsylvania about 1802. Joseph W. Rinehart wasn't the first journey-taker, either. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1806, but I can't find much on his parents (yet).

Thank you, journey-takers. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Tombstone Tuesday: Elroy Post, Painter

Quick, what occupation do you think hubby's great-uncle Elroy pursued?

Well, you're partly right.

Hubby's great-aunt Margaret Mary Steiner (1861-1913) married Elroy D. Post (1858-1929) in 1883.

They soon moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he was a sign painter in his own business for more than 30 years.

Although Maggie died in Knoxville, she was buried in her home town of Upper Sandusky, Ohio, in the Old Mission Cemetery. Above, the family plot marker. At right, Maggie's gravestone.

Elroy remarried a few years later, to Merida, and the couple named their only child after Elroy's first wife. When Elroy died, he, too, was buried in Old Mission Cemetery, right next to his first wife, Maggie. They're the only two in the Post plot. Hmmm.

Surname Saturday and Getting Down to the DNA

The newly enhanced Ancestry DNA results are a much closer match for hubby's family tree origins than the old version. Above, the new map of his origins. Below, the summary of his origins, which make sense in the context of the updated Heritage Pie I created for him earlier this year.

Great Britain (England, No. Ireland, Scotland) and Ireland were the original homes of these families from hubby's tree:

• Bentley 
• Denning 
• Larimer
• McClure
• Shehen 
• Slatter 
• Taber 
• Wood

At left, 2022 snapshot of DNA at LivingDNA.

Western Europe was the original home of these families from hubby's tree:

• Demarest
• Nitchie
• Shank
• Steiner
• Rinehart

Amenuensis Monday: Looking Up Famous In-Laws

When hubby and I were researching in Upper Sandusky, Ohio this summer, we wandered into the Wyandot County Museum and talked with the curator about paintings on the wall by artist Frank Halbedel, brother-in-law to hubby's great-aunt Minnie Estella Steiner Halbedel.

One of the most famous paintings shows the Old Mission where Wyandot Indians were converted and worshipped. The mission been reconstructed and is surrounded by many graves of hubby's ancestors in Old Mission Cemetery.

The museum curator kindly copied local news articles about Frank Halbedel, including one about his parents' golden wedding anniversary. Here is an excerpt that describes Mrs. Nicholas Halbedel's father's 15 minutes of fame. This man would be the grandfather of the husband of hubby's great-aunt, but still . . . I've transcribed it below. And the article had one more surprise--keep reading!

"[Mrs. Anna Schactela Halbedel's father] who is still remembered by our older citizens, was a soldier under Napoleon Bonaparte, and he, with the father of Philip Tracht of this city, was present at the famous ball at Brussels when the exultant soldiers of the Little Giant were surprised in their revelries by the forces of the Duke of Wellington, on the eve of disastrous Waterloo, when the Emperor of the French was overwhelmed."

Now for the surprise. Buried in the fine print listing all the attendees were these two names: "Mrs. Edward G. Steiner and daughter, Miss Floyda." Bingo, a direct connection with my hubby's pedigree.

Floyda was my husband's grandma, Mrs. Edward G. Steiner was his great-grandma. Now more research is ahead: This 1902 story appeared soon after Floyda was divorced from her first husband (a brief marriage that I haven't yet found the divorce papers for) and a year before she married hubby's grandpa, Brice Larimer McClure.

2022 update: I do have Floyda's divorce papers. Here's her story!

Surname Saturday: Heritage Pie Updated

Last October, I modified the idea of creating a heritage pie chart of great-great-grandparents and posted my pies with hubby's great-grandparents and my grandparents.

Today I have enough information to post a chart with the birth place of all 16 of hubby's great-great-grands (above). Except for 4 people, all of hubby's great-grandparents were born in the US (mainly Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, Ohio). However, not all of the great-great-great-grands were US-born.

Here's what I know or suspect about where the families of each of hubby's great-great-grandparents were from originally:

Ireland: John Shehen and wife Mary (maiden UNK)--have evidence
England: John Slatter Sr. and wife Sarah (maiden UNK)--have evidence of English birth, but this family might have long-ago Irish roots
England: Ancestors of Isaiah Wood Sr.--have evidence
England: Ancestors of Harriet Taber--have evidence
England: Ancestors of Sarah Denning--need evidence
England: Ancestors of Lucy E. Bentley--need evidence
Huguenots (possibly France): Ancestors of Henry E. Demarest--need evidence
Huguenots (possibly France): Ancestors of Catherine Nitchie--need evidence
Scots-Irish: Ancestors of Benjamin McClure--have evidence
No. Ireland: Ancestors of Brice S. Larimer--have evidence
Germany: Ancestors of Jacob S. Steiner--have a clue (a letter from a descendant)
Switzerland: Ancestors of Joseph W. Rinehart--have a clue (a family story)
???: Ancestors of Elizabeth (maiden UNK) Steiner
???: Ancestors of Margaret Shank, who married Joseph W. Rinehart

Military Monday: Elihu Served 6 Days in the Revolutionary War

Elihu Wood Sr., hubby's 3rd great-granddaddy, is the only one of his ancestors officially recognized as having fought in the Revolutionary War.

According to the 1896 multivolume publication Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, Elihu--a resident of Bristol County, MA--responded to an alarm in Rhode Island by joining Captain Henry Jenne's company in Colonel Hathaway's 2d Bristol Regiment on August 2, 1780. Elihu was mustered out on August 8, 1780. Grand total of Revolutionary War service: 6 days.

During the War of 1812, his son, Elihu Wood Jr., was in Lt. Col. B. Lincoln's regiment, serving from June 30, 1814 to July 10, 1814 in New Bedford and Fairhaven, MA. His military service totaled 10 days.

Two other ancestors saw service during the War of 1812:

• Daniel Denning was a private in Capt. John Hayslip's Ohio Militia from September to November, 1814.
• Isaac M. Larimer was a Sgt and Ensign in Capt. George Sanderson's company in Ohio, serving from April, 1812 to April, 1813. 

At least four ancestors fought for the Union side during the Civil War:

• Benjamin Franklin Steiner was a private in 10th Company L, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, enlisting in 1862.
• His younger brother, Samuel D. Steiner, served in Company C, 180th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in 1864-5.
• Hugh Rinehart was a private in Company I, 15th Ohio Infantry, in 1861.
• Train C. McClure served the longest of hubby's ancestors. He enlisted as a private in the 89th Regiment of the Indiana Infantry in August, 1862, and didn't leave the Army until July, 1865.

Sympathy Saturday: February Was a Sad Month for the Steiner Family

Adaline (Addie) M. Steiner, daughter of Edward George Steiner and Elizabeth Jane Rinehart, died of consumption [see obit] only three weeks shy of her 20th birthday, on February 23, 1879.

Floyda Mabel Steiner, hubby's grandma, was born in March of 1878, so the Steiners were coping with a lot in 1879.

Addie's passing was the third death of a child for poor Edward and Elizabeth. Their first-born died in 1852, and their second-born, Elveretta, died at about age one, in February of 1855.

In all, the couple had 9 children, but only 6 survived to make adult lives: Orville J., Margaret Mary, Etta Blanche, Minnie Estella, Carrie Eilleen, and Floyda Mabel. My Steiner & Rinehart ancestor landing page, one of the tabs at the top of this blog, tells more about these families.

Several Steiner family members are buried in Old Mission Cemetery, Upper Sandusky, Ohio, a beautifully-kept cemetery that is home to that famous mistaken "February 31" death date on the tombstone of Christiana Haag, which I photographed when visiting this summer.

Thriller Thursday: Researching Sideways Reveals "Burglariously" Charge

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A few days after attending Debbie Parker Wayne's FGS talk about tax and land laws, I had a chance to apply her ideas while researching the Steiner family in Upper Sandusky, the county seat of Wynadot County, Ohio.

Visiting the Heritage Room of the Upper Sandusky library, I systematically checked each genealogy book on the shelf for any mention of a Steiner. One book listed names mentioned in early probate entries and court of common pleas law cases. There, to my surprise, I found hubby's great-grand uncle (the brother of his great-grandpa Edward G. Steiner) in an 1870 entry titled: "State of Ohio vs. Samuel D. Steiner."

Hubby scrambled off to the elegant Wyandot County Courthouse a few blocks away and came back with photos of this case's paperwork. It turns out that hubby's great-grandpa Edward G. Steiner was mentioned in the case after all! Most mysterious of all, this was a breaking and entering case, as you can see:

The State of Ohio, Wyandot County

To the keeper of the jail of the county aforesaid, greeting:

  Whereas Samuel D. Steiner late of said county has been arrested on a complaint signed and sworn to by John Price, that Elisha Holmes on the 30th day of October in the year of our Lord 1870, in the night season of the same day, to wit:

  About the hour of 8 o’clock p.m. in the county of Wyandot aforesaid, into a certain store-house of one Matthew Mitchell, is there situate and being, did willfully, maliciously, burglariously, feloniously, break and enter with intent then and there and thereby, feloniously, burglariously, to steal, take, and carry away the personal goods, chattels, and property of value of Matthew Mitchell and John B. Mitchell in the said store-house then and there being.

  And the deponent aforesaid being sworn as aforesaid further says that Samuel D. Steiner, Edward G. Steiner, and John Sheehy, before said felony was committed as aforesaid by the said Elisha Holmes, to wit:   On the 30th day of October in the year of our Lord 1870, in the county of Wyandot aforesaid, did unlawfully, feloniously, purposely, and of deliberate and premeditated purpose aid and abet and procure the aforesaid Elisha Holmes the said felony in manner and form aforesaid to commit.

  And whereas the said Samuel D. Steiner has been brought before me, to answer to said charge, and has by me required to give bail in the sum of $1,000, for his appearance before the court of common pleas in said county of Wyandot on the first day of the next term thereof, which requirement he has failed to comply with.

  I command you to receive the said Samuel D. Steiner into your custody in the jail of the county aforesaid, there to remain until he shall be discharge by due course of law.

  Given under my hand and seal this 9th day of November 1870. – M.W. Welsh, J.P.  

This is still a thriller because I don't yet know what happened--no other paperwork was in the folder or mentioned in the transcribed listing of names in lawsuits. But you know I will be digging deeper to find out. If I hadn't followed up on Samuel's name in the records, I wouldn't have known about Edward's involvement at all.

$1,000 bail was a ginormous amount in 1870. What could great-grand uncle Samuel and great-grandpa Edward have done to be accused of aiding and abetting so feloniously and burglariously a theft??

Motivation Monday: FGS + ACPL = New Ideas and Info

Wrapping up the FGS experience, the various tracks really offered something for everyone: Records; Methodologies; Tech; Brit Isles; Writing/speaking/publishing; Military; Midwest Religious Communities; Online resources; Midwest; Migration; African-American; German; European; Transportation; Genetics; Ethnic origins; NARA.

Given my focus on hubby's midwest ancestors, I stuck to the Midwest track for most of my sessions, enjoying talks by Melissa Shimkus, Elizabeth Plummer, Kris Rzepczynski, Harold Henderson, and Amy Johnson Crow. Two great lunch speakers: Josh Taylor on Saturday and Audrey Collins on Thursday, both motivational and entertaining.

As tempting as it was to go to sessions all the time, I devoted two afternoons and one evening to the Allen County Public Library. (No, no costume for the dance, just research.)

Who said libraries are going away? Not anyone who's ever been to ACPL. Its printed materials are genealogy gems, its librarians and volunteers are experts and friendly to boot. In one place I could consult books about Indiana and Ohio, the two main areas where Steiners, Rineharts, McClures, and other ancestors of hubby lived. I'm coming home with about 300 photos (not photocopies) of pages from history books, genealogies, old directories, cemetery listings, etc. That's enough raw material to keep me busy for many weeks. Some bull's eyes, some clues, lots to evaluate and check.

Also I networked with FGS attendees as well as with people in other areas (Wabash, Upper Sandusky, Wyandot) to further the research effort. More about this in future posts. So many ancestors, so little time!

Blogoversary #5 and Going Strong!

Thank you, dear relatives and readers, for following along on the genealogical journey I've been documenting here for the past five years. And thank you to the many dozens of Geneabloggers whose posts and comments have encouraged and inspired me to try new things, like the ancestor landing pages just below my masthead and using Facebook for genealogy.

Some of the high points since Blogoversary #4: 

• Being "found" by Philly Cuz, a second cousin from my Schwartz side. She's been kind enough to share photos and stories. Quite a trip down memory lane on both sides, and of course, an in-person visit is in our future. Thank you!
• Finally seeing the all-important McClure book to confirm the Scots-Irish connection. And while at Allen County Public Library, locating more records of the McClure fam in Adams County books on the open shelves. Thank you to ACPL staff and volunteers! 
• Teaming up with a long-time Bentley researcher to try to fill in the blanks on William Tyler Bentley's life and family. We have a ways to go but have been making progress together. And it's wonderful to have connected with an actual Bentley cousin (hi Elizabeth) who's tracing her tree also. Thank you all!
• Being "found" by the son of a woman who sailed across the Atlantic with my Auntie Dorothy Schwartz, the WAC, on the oceanliner that defied the German subs. I never would have known about the magazine article describing that tense ocean crossing if not for him. Thank you!
• Scanning and indexing 31 years of notes and historians' reports from meetings of the Farkas Family Tree, my maternal grandma's family. One fabulous cousin retyped many barely readable documents for this project, and a number of cousins very patiently answered questions about who's who, so we can get this book into shape for the next generation to browse and keep (I hope!). Thank you!

Now for some of the big questions I'm still trying to answer:

• Are any descendants of Paula Schwartz and her daughter, Viola, still alive? Answered...Yes! I'm now in touch with these cousins! (updated 2022)
• Where oh where in Ireland do hubby's ancestors hail from? Yes, I'm talking about you, Smith, Shehen, and Larimer ancestors. Stop hiding in plain sight!
• Where did the Steiners and Rineharts come from in the Old World? Thanks to the kindness of FindaGrave volunteers who've photographed graves and clarified family connections on our behalf, we expect to make progress. 
• Where in Lithuania did Isaac Burk/Birk come from and who else was in his family (parents and siblings)? Updated 2022: Their birthplace was Gargzdai.

Getting Ready for FGS 2013: FAN Research for the "Most Wanted" List

FGS 2013 is just weeks away and I'm going over my list of "Most Wanted" ancestors, the people hubby and I really want to find. My plan is to bring along not only a printout of the Family Group Sheets, but also a complete alphabetical index of the family tree. That way, if I can't get online, I can consult my paper files.

But I want to do as much as possible from home. So, using FAN (Friends and Neighbors) research, I'm retracing my steps--and I believe I've discovered a sibling of one of the "Most Wanted" Ancestors.

Joseph W. Rinehart (sometimes spelled Reinhart), 1806-1888, is hubby's great-great-granddaddy. From at least 1850 on, he lived in Tod in Crawford county, Ohio. Scrolling through the 1880 Census for Crawford, I spotted another Reinhart just two farms away: George Reinhart. George is only 3 years younger than Joseph, both were born in Pennsylvania, and what's more, George's household includes little George Hilborn.

The Hilborns were in-laws to the Steiners. Who, you ask, are the Steiners? Joseph W. Rinehart's daughter Elizabeth Jane married Edward George Steiner (see his Civil War draft registration, below). And other Hilborns married other Rineharts.

Civil War draft registration (1863( of Edward George Steiner

As it happens, the Rineharts AND the Steiners are on the "Most Wanted" list so I'm definitely making progress by using FAN to be understand the geographic connection between the Rinehart, Steiner, and Hilborn families.

Just wait till we're at FGS and can dive deep into the Allen County Public Library's vast collection of genealogical records! Stay tuned.

Ancestor Landing Pages: Views But No Connections Yet

As you can see from this chart, my ancestor landing pages are being viewed. The bottom two pages were posted just a few weeks ago, so the low page views are no surprise.

I started using ancestor landing pages back in January, after reading a post by Caroline Pointer. 

The Birk and Mahler pages were among the earliest posted, so it makes sense that they're the most viewed. Even though the pages have not yet brought me new genealogical connections...I still have hope they'll lead to breakthroughs!

2022 update: I added an ancestor landing page for McClure, Donegal--and it's now the most viewed by far. 

Those Places Thursday: My Brick Wall in Crawford County, Ohio

Tod is that sliver of a town at far left of Crawford County, Ohio. And Tod is where one of my hubby's brick-wall ancestors lived. During the Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference in August, my goal is to blast this brick wall out of existence by doing research at the Allen County Public Library and in Bucyrus, the county seat of Crawford.

The brick wall's name is Jacob S. Steiner. He was born about 1802 (estimate based on Census data) and his occupation was tailor. Jacob and his wife Elizabeth (maiden name UNK) and their oldest child, William, were all born in Pennsylvania (Census again). Everybody else in their family was born in Ohio.

I know Jacob died sometime between the 1850 Census and the 1860 Census, because he's not in the 1860 Census. His wife Elizabeth is the head of the household in 1860 in Tod, and she has two of her adult children living with her, plus two of her teenage children, plus a two-year-old named Albert J. Steiner. Given Elizabeth's age, I have to believe that Albert is her grandson, but so far, I haven't identified who he belongs to. Elizabeth died in 1864 and is buried in Oceola Cemetery #2, in Crawford County.

So when and where did Jacob die? Who were his parents and where in Pennsylvania was he born? And the biggest question of all: Where in the Old World did the Steiner family come from? One family story says the Steiners (and another family in our tree, Rinehart), were Austrian. Another says they were Swiss. Well, we're going to do our best to track Jacob and family back through the 18th century and see where the trail leads! UPDATE: No breakthrough yet on Steiner and Rinehart origins, as of 2022.

Those Places Thursday: Genealogy-Friendly Crawford County, Ohio

Getting ready for the Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference in August, I'm organizing my research so hubby and I can make the most of our time in Indiana and Ohio.

Two weeks ago, I wrote a snail-mail note to the Crawford County Probate Court, requesting death records for four ancestors on my "most wanted" list: Elizabeth Steiner (d. 6 November 1864), Jacob S. Steiner (d. between 1850 and 1860), Margaret (maiden name UNK) Rinehart (d. 11 June 1873) and William Steiner (d. 11 March 1899). All lived in Tod, Crawford County, or thereabouts.

Lisa at the court could only locate the record for William--but she kindly gave me the name/phone number of a local genealogical official and suggested I call to ask for ideas on tracking down the other records, which wouldn't be available at the county level because reporting didn't start until years later.

That call led me to the super-friendly folks at the Crawford County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society. Mary recognized the Steiner surname right away and she also has suggestions for identifying Margaret Rinehart's maiden name.

If you have any connections to Crawford County, OH (or wish that you did!), click through the above link to check out the many local genealogy resources and publications at their site. I can't wait to visit during the summertime.