Wandering Around The Family Tree

 Looking through my family tree, it wasn't uncommon for a married couple to lose several children at a young age, or for either the husband or wife to die while there were still young children in the house.  One sad story in my tree, my great-great-grandparents Gottlieb Wilhelm Schickler and Marie Frederike Haufler may be the saddest loss story of all.  1846, November 30   Marie Frederike Haufler was born in Marbach, Wurttemburg, the oldest child of Gottlob Friedrich Haufler (1820-1899) and Christine Catherine Haas (1819-????). 1848, April 18 Gottlieb Wilhelm Schickler was born in Ludwigsbugb, Wurtttemburg, the second child and oldest son of Jacob Schickler (1816-????) and Louise Gikeleitner (1826-????) 1873, February 11  Gottlieb Wilhelm Schickler and Marie Frederike Haufler married in Ludwigsburg Ancestry.com.  Württemberg, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1500-1985  [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations,...

 The theme for week 10 of Amy Johnson Crow's #52Ancestors project is Name's the Same. In week three - when the theme was Namesake I wrote about the 11 Ralph Hankins' in my tree. The same side of my family includes at least 16 men named Bezaleel - all descended from the first one.  Generation 1 Bezaleel Tyler , son of Charles Tyler and Rebecca Potter, born in 1683 in Branford, New Haven County, Connecticut, died in Sharon, Litchfield County, Connecticut on August 29, 1760. He and his wife Abigail Johnson (1692-1760) married on January 23 1711/12 in Branford and had at least 10 children.  Generation 2 Bezaleel Tyler , son of Bezaleel Tyler and Abigail Johnson, born November 6, 1716, Branford, New Haven County, Connecticut, died June 29, 1796, Cochecton, Ulster County, New York. He married Sarah Calkins (1725-1791) on February 24, 1742 and had at least 15 children. Some histories claim 22 children but only 15 have been identified Generation 3 Bezaleel Tyler , son of Bezal...

Growing up, I heard stories from my Dad about his Call cousins on his mother's side and visiting her family in Genesee County, New York. I wondered why I never heard about any cousins on the Hankins side. And then I realized there weren't any.  I thought it was because his father, Francis William Hankins (1897-1983) was an only child. Then I learned that he had a sister and brother - twins - who died young.  My great-grandparents William Lucas Hankins (1872-1930) and Mary Jane Kellam (1874-1944) married in 1896, and soon settled in Auburn, Cayuga County, New York. Their families were both from the Sullivan County, New York/Wayne County, Pennsylvania area.  Their first child, my grandfather, Francis William Hankins, was born in Auburn on September 8, 1897  Two and a half years later, twins Helen Maye and Howard Ray, were born on March, 7, 1900, also in Auburn.  An undated family record, probably from a family bible, records three children's births, and the deaths...

My great grandparents Charles Joslin Call (1859-1939) and Elizabeth Ann Coe (1862-1956) were married for almost 55 years. They married on November 5, 1884 at the home of the bride's parents in Le Roy, Genesee County, New York, and remained together until Charles' death on June 12, 1939.  Elizabeth Ann Coe (1862-1956) and her husband Charles Joslin Call (1859-1939) I've been transcribing excerpts from Elizabeth's journals that she compiled in the 1930s and 1940s into books of  reminiscenses for family members.  Elizabeth didn't talk much about her relationship with Charles before his death. And after his death, there were mentions of doing things alone for the first time. In December 1939, she didn't send out Christmas cards because it was something he always enjoyed - and mentioned how in the days leading up to the holidays in 1939, she had cried more than she had since his death.  In early January, Elizabeth received a letter from her sister-in-law Sarah (1856-...

 The theme for this week is Valentine. And I was totally stumped on what to write. I even thought about skipping this week - since I don't have any valentines or love letters from my ancestors, there aren't any men named Valentine in my family tree - and none of my ancestors strike me as the romantic type. Most of them are good solid farmers, who raised their family, and did their best to provide a better future for their children than they had.  And then I thought about my great grandparents - Charles Joslin Call and Elizabeth Ann Coe, and both sets of their parents -  Robert Call and Charlotte Joslin, and Albert Coe and Deborah Prentice - and how long they were married.  Were these great romances? Did they exchange cards and gifts on February 14 each year? I may never know - what I do know - is they all created partnerships that allowed them to raise their families on farms in Genesee County, New York.  Albert Coe (1827-1907) and Deborah Prentice (1833-1910) w...

 When I saw the theme for week 5 of #52Ancestors - In the Kitchen - I thought about how much work my great grandmother Elizabeth Ann (Coe) Call (1862-1956) did on the family farm in Stafford, Genesee County, New York. Elizabeth kept a diary for much of her life, and summarized important events for the years 1935-1943 in a memoir she titled "The Calls, 1935-1943".  Elizabeth Ann Coe and her husband Charles Joslin Call In the entry for September 22, 1936, she shared her schedule for the day. At the time this was originally written, Elizabeth was 74 years old.  Miss Warren, daughter of Dr. Warren, and another young lady have been here several times inquiring of how I spend my time daily. I think Miss W. was to have her thesis on this. So I made this schedule on Tues Sept 22.  Rose 5:15 Dressed 5:30 Breakfast prepared 6:00 ate breakfast 6:15 Cleared table, washed dishes 6:30 At washing 6 - 7:50 Tending plants 8:10 My breakfast 8:25 Making cottage cheese 8:20 - 9 Clothes ...

Last year, the theme for week 2 was Favorite Photo and I had no problems deciding what to write about - the photo of the six Joslin siblings taken in 1904 at Robert Call and Charlotte Joslin's Golden Wedding anniversary celebration.  A year later - when Favorite Photo was announced as theme for week 4 I had a much harder time deciding on which photo to share. I've spent more hours than I can count digitizing and sharing family photos in the past year. So oftentimes my favorite photo is probably the most recent one I've researched.  But as I thought about the theme for this week - I kept coming back to a photograph in my Grandmother Evelyn Clara Call's photo album from college covering the years 1915-1919. The photo was taken on Christmas Day, 1916 and shows a scene that anyone who ever attending a family gathering with a meal is familiar with - the kids table! In the album, the photo is labeled Irving, Floyd, Laura, Albert, James , Evelyn From other photographs, I reco...

 As I researched my ancestors, I realized there were a lot of men with Ralph as their first or middle name. Most it turned out were descendants of Ralph Hankins (1776-1863), first of my Hankins line to settle in New York or Pennsylvania.  So for this week's theme of Namesake I thought I'd talk about all 11 Ralphs in my Hankins family tree.  1. Ralph Hankins . Born Feb 29, 1776, in New Jersey (probably in Hunterdon County), son of Richard Hankins and Elizabeth Pinkerton. Ralph married four times. Ralph died on Sept. 9, 1863 in Tusten, Sullivan County, New York. Census records place Ralph in Lumberland, Ulster County, New York in 1800, Lackawaxan, Wayne County, Pennsylvania in 1810, Pike County, PA in 1820 and 1830, Lackawaxan, Pike County in 1840 and 1850, and Tusten, Sullivan County, NY in 1860.  Ralph first married ______ Lambert, who died in Tusten in 1796 along with their baby.  Ralph married second, Mary Dougherty (born between 1775-1784 based on age in cens...

Based on a sketch of a member of the Hankins family in some county history and info found in an unpublished family history - I thought I knew who the father of Ralph Hankins (1776-1863) - the earliest Hankins ancestor I had any real information about.  Both sources I found shared some common information (the family history probably had info from the county history) and a few different details. But between the two of them - what I was sure I knew was that 1. The father of Ralph Hankins (1776-1863) was named Ralph. 2. He had four children - the family history provided a few names - Rachel who married a Barton, Polly who married a McDaniels, Sally married Lucas Wurtz (they were rich), and Ralph 3. He was from Norway.  4. And he crossed the Delaware with George Washington.  So based on this information, I enthusiastically set out to learn more about Ralph Hankins who crossed the Delaware with George Washington. In my imagination - he was even in the same boat with Washington....

Well - trying again with Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks project . Last year, I made it as far as week 9 - let's see if I can do better this year.  Each week, there is a writing prompt for me to think about and share something. Most weeks it will probably be a post here on my blog - other weeks it may just be something I share in a FB group I've set up for my family - or even something I share on Instagram or Twitter. If you'd like to follow my posts on my blog - just click on the  #52Ancestors label  in the left hand column. The prompt for week 1 is Beginings.  When I read the prompt, I immediately thought about how I got hooked on genealogy.  I grew up in Winchester, Massachusetts and attended the Unitarian Church. In those days, at the end of Sunday School year for 3rd graders, you received your own Bible. I received mine on May 17, 1970 (somehow I find it hard to believe that was 50 years ago - and that I've been doing anything for fifty years!)...

I don't know much about my 3rd Great Aunt Wilhelmine Sophie Haufler Beller but I do know that the first time I saw her death certificate from 1895, I couldn't imagine the disaster it was for her family. Her death certificate states the cause of death as Peritonitis Following Abortion. In 1895, abortion was a crime in New York. Under an 1845 law, woman who had an abortion faced a prison sentence of three months to a year. Under an 1872 law, anyone performing an abortion faced a prison sentence of four to twenty years. Despite these laws, and presumably knowing the risks to her health and possibly her life, Wilhelmine Sophie Haufler Beller chose to have an abortion in January 1895. Wilhelmine was born on January 28, 1859 in Marbach, Wurttemburg, Germany, the daughter of Gottlob Friedrich Haufler (1820-1899) and Christine Catherarina Haas (1819 - ????). She was the 6th of their 7 known children. Wilhelmine immigrated to New York on March 12, 1883 arriving on the ship Od...

In many ways, my great great grandfather Robert Call (1831-1913) exemplifies the traditional American immigrant success story. Robert was born on June 5, 1831 in Chawleigh, Devon, England, the son of John Call and Grace Paine. His father John was an agricultural laborer. As of 1841, the family was living in Turnpike Cottage (not sure where they lived when Robert was born.) In 1851, Robert was working as a farm laborer for Richard Reed in Chawleigh. His parents still lived in Turnpike Cottage. In 1853, Robert immigrated to America, arriving in Philadelphia on the ship City of Glasgow with 2 pieces of luggage. He initially settled in the Boston area where he worked as a gardener. In 1858, Robert and his wife Charlotte Joslin (1834-1908) and their son Albert Henry Call (1957-1934) moved to Genesee County, New York. In 1860, Robert was living in Elba, Genesee County, working as a laborer (presumably on a farm). He didn't own any land, and his personal estate was val...

As a political junkie, I'm always excited to learn about my ancestors' political views and activites. My Call ancestors were very active in Temperance and Prohibition work in Genesee County, New York in the late 1800's and early 1900s. My great grandfather Charles Joslin Call (1859-1939) even ran for State Treasurer of New York on the Prohibition Party ticket in 1910 (he lost). His mother, Charlotte Joslin Call (1834-1908) was the head of the Women's Christian Temperance Union in Stafford and Morganville for 20 years. In the 1930's, Elizabeth Coe Call (1862-1956), recorded the family history in a document known as the "Memories of the Calls: Some Reflections of Charles Joslin Call and Elizabeth Coe Call."  Alden Jones gave me a typed transcription of the document several years ago Among the memories she preserved was a paper Charlotte Joslin Call delivered on "Woman Suffrage" probably at a W.C.T.U. event at Silver Lake according to ...