Wordless Wednesday (Almost): Donald Frank Niehaus, 1942 - 2010

Remembering my brother, Don Niehaus,

 who would have been 74 years old on September 2, 2016. 

Finding More Pieces of Her Story: Birth Certificate of Rosemary Ethel Weber

  It seems as though there’s something revealed each time another historical record surfaces. But there's just never enough time to gather all those juicy pieces.  In this case I would say that procrastination paid off.  You see, I hadn’t yet paid for my parents' birth certificates from the health department.  Then, one day they appeared online!  Recently a new database of Indiana birth certificates was added to ancestry.com.  Now I can locate these rich documents from home for the years 1907 to 1940.  My keyboard has been burning up with searches. Sure, I knew most of the birth dates already, including my mother's.  But consistently I find that each of these old documents confirms a date, adds a place I didn’t know or provides other details adding to the person's story.  For Rosemary Ethel Weber’s birth certificate that's the case.  (Full transcription is at the end of this post.)
     I didn’t necessarily expect any revelations.  I just wanted to have Rose’s birth certificate because it’s primary documentation of her history.  Her baptismal record at Sacred Heart Catholic Church had already provided an indirect confirmation of the date and place of her birth.  However, we could question the place of birth that someone listed on the church record. Sure enough, it’s the same address on the official birth certificate: 733 Parkway Avenue, Indianapolis,  Indiana.  A search on Google for that address shows an empty lot. Oh well, I can see the homes on Parkway remaining today and get an idea of the neighborhood where this young family lived.  I also found that Rose’s older brother Bob was born at this same address on Parkway in 1914.   I drove to that spot.

         There was also a family story that might be connected, or confirmed, through this document.  There’s the question about whether any of the Weber children born at home may have been assisted by Miss Anna Wintz, who we all know to have been the family caretaker later in their lives.  She was said to have been a midwife, or at least assisted families in the local area at the time new children arrived. 
       I found the signature and address of the attending physician, C. W. Marxer.  Brief research on this doctor resulted in a listing for Dr. Conrad Marxer as an instructor in obstetrics at the Central College of Physicians and Surgeons in Indianapolis in 1902.   This certificate also has an additional line where a midwife could be listed.  There’s a signature of H. G. Morgan.  Records online confirm a Dr. H. G. Morgan was the secretary of the City Health Board in 1916.  He may have signed all birth certificates at this time.  For  sure, Miss Wintz isn’t recorded anywhere on this official document.   Now I’m a little closer to the description of her involvement in my mother’s birth.  Maybe she was present.  We might never know the details.  If she was there, I can now say it probably wasn’t in the capacity of official midwife.   
     What else did this 100-year-old record from the Indiana State Board of Health bring? Of course, the age and occupation information on Harry and Tillie Weber, Rose’s parents, is included.  Also, I see that Rose was born at 8:30 a.m. on that March 3 in 1916.  It may have been a sleepless night for Tillie.  Probably for Harry as well.  And possibly for their two-year-old son, Bob.  Just speculating.  But with a little more reason to do so, right?

  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Transcription:
    Indiana State Board of Health Certificate of Birth, Reg. No. 36169   
     Place of birth:  County of Marion, Township of Center, City of Indianapolis, No: 733 Parkway Ave., 13th Ward
     Full name of child:  Rosemary Ethel Weber
     Sex of child: girl
     Legitimate: yes
     Date of birth:  Mar 3, 1916
     Father: Harry L. Weber
     Residence: 733 Parkway Ave.
     Color or race: White
     Age:  28
     Birthplace: Indianapolis, Ind.
     Occupation: Clerk
     Mother: Tillie Kuhn
     Residence:  733 Parkway Ave.
     Color or race:  White
     Age:  25
     Birthplace:  Indianapolis, Ind.
     Occupation: House work
     Number of children born to this mother, including present birth: 2
     Number of children of this mother, now living, including present birth:  2
     Were precautions taken against opthalmin neonatorum: yes
     Certificate of Attending Physicial or Midwife
     I hereby certify that I attended the birth of this child, who was alive at 8:30 a.m. on the date above stated. 
   Signature:  C. W. Marxer
     Attending physicial, midwife, householder:  H. G. Morgan
     Address:  503 E. McCarty St.
    Filed: March 6, 1916

       ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

     It really is true that each old record is valuable, regardless of what information we already have.  This database online is definitely a treasure chest for anyone lacking the basic family facts. But even though I had many of the facts on my mother,  her birth certificate is very important to me.  I’ll probably connect more dots along the road as a result of having this additional piece to add to Rose Weber’s history.  

     Thanks for visiting Indiana Ties,

     Nancy

Copyright © 2016, Nancy Niehaus Hurley

Our Hometown Indianapolis, Rediscovering German Street News of 1918 forwarded to 1991

     It’s like hitting the history jackpot. Taking a fresh look at research papers gathered over the past 15 years is reminding me of their value. You know, all that ‘special stuff’ that’s been patiently waiting for me to pull them out of the file drawers.  Well, recently I decided to either use them or lose them.  I’ve begun a sorting and scanning escapade.  There are manila folders filled with articles clipped from magazines, copied from books and downloaded from the internet.  Stashed in those files are maps and photos of people, places and things.  Those that I have rechosen after a quick review, will be  searchable on my  computer now.  Much more usable and beneficial than in those drawers.  
      I’m scanning and uploading the files to both Evernote and Google Drive so I have a choice of how I look at them. And besides, it’s so easy to do with my Scansnap.  I’ve tried not to become too involved as I see all these interesting materials reappear. But now that I’m well into the scanning, I’m letting myself select a few to share here on Indiana Ties.
     The selection today is a newspaper clipping that I found in the history section of the Indianapolis Public Library in about 2002. I remember I was looking for information on how the street addresses in my ancestors’ neighborhoods were renumbered over the years when I came across this interesting piece that begged to be copied.  It sidetracked me briefly, but the information was worth it.  I think anyone would agree that this news item makes you speculate about the people in your own family living in this city at this time.  
       In 1991 an Indianapolis Star staff writer, Robert N. Bell, reported on the City County Council’s action to put in place historical markers where German street names were changed during the anti-Germany sentiments that occurred during and after World War I. Of course, this circumstance occurred in many cities of the U. S.   But this proximity in Indianapolis made me stop to think of my German family and what they might have encountered during those years.
     Specifically, these events bring to mind Joseph Niehaus, my immigrant great grandfather, living on South West Street from 1888 to 1921, just a few blocks from those streets that were stripped of their German names. Was his rug weaving business affected by the anti-German feelings? Did his children, some of them born in Germany, who were beginning their own families, have concerns about their children at school?
     And what about the Harry Adam Weber family’s interactions? Most of the large family still lived with their parents at 533 South Alabama Street. Harry worked at this time for the mayor, in the city engineer’s office. Seven of the adult children were employed in various jobs around the city, such as clerical staff at the railroad and the coal company, in an upholstering shop, a machine shop and as an electrician.   Was there backlash within these businesses? How would they feel as news came of Germany’s wartime activities?    It had been only a few years since Amelia Weber, a German immigrant, was living with her son, Harry’s family.  Were her grandchildren relieved she wasn’t around to see the circumstances of the war?
     I wonder if overall these issues might have drawn the German immigrants in the city into tighter groups? Oh, wouldn’t it be fascinating if we could know what they discussed in their family get-togethers.
     This historical accounting in the newspaper, 73 years after the war, reports that placing the markers indicating the former names of the streets is the  “appropriate thing to do.”  Here’s the story printed in the Indianapolis Star on October 20, 1991.    

          I hope you enjoyed this tiny slice of Indianapolis Hometown history.  There will be more to share as I scan and refile lots of research.  Come back to see what pops up!
   
Thanks for visiting Indiana Ties,
Nancy

Copyright © 2016, Nancy Niehaus Hurley

Rose and Bob Weber at the Park, 1924: Wordless Wednesday (Almost)

     My Wordless Wednesday posts are “almost wordless” since I find it too difficult to not say anything about the photos that I’m sharing.  This is one of my favorite photos from the Weber scrapbook. The two lovely children are my mother, Rose, and her brother, Bob Weber, in about 1924.  It must be a fall day since they have on sweaters, leggings and hats.  The photo is taken in Garfield Park near the Weber home in Indianapolis.  The family spent a good deal of time at the park since it was within a block of their home.  It’s still today a nice place to take a break.


    Thanks for visiting Indiana Ties,
     Nancy


Copyright © 2016, Nancy Niehaus Hurley

Niehaus Family Reunion: Saturday, September 10, 2016, Pioneer Park, Mooresville, Indiana

Ladies In My Line: Charlotte Krause Marsischky, One More Special Third Great Grandmother

Who was Charlotte Krause Marsischky?  What was her life like in Pomerania?  What should I say about her?  First, she’s the third great grandmother that has been left out of the “Ladies In My Line” here at Indiana Ties. As I was taking another look at the ancestors on my blog roll for omissions, the Krause name came to the top of the heap.  It’s about  time I paid attention to Charlotte Krause, even if there remain large gaps in the story.
   
Making a calculated guess I would say that Charlotte lived from approximately 1825 to 1890.  My best reasoning with the scant information I have about her is that she was born in Wend Silkow, Pomerania. My map of Central

Europe in 1815 to 1866 posted above shows an orange arrow and a yellow line indicating Pomerania’s location on the Baltic Sea.  My conclusion that Charlotte Krause was born in Wend Silkow considered clues from her children’s records.  I studied the marriage license application of her son, Wilhelm from 1905 and immigration records and censuses of both Wilhelm and his siblings from 1880 through 1920.  Even a birth record of one of Charlotte’s grandchildren adds some interest.  The marriage record (excerpt above) indicates Charlotte was born in “Vandselkow.”  I also know from that same document that her husband, Ferdinand Marsischky, was born in Dumrese.  And that their son gives Stolp County as his birthplace.  At that time Stolp County was in Pommern, or Pomerania.

    The Village of Wend Silkow, Charlotte’s Home:
   Adding these geographical pieces together and thinking about a German accent brought me to my selection of Wend Silkow in Stolp (Kreis) County, Pomerania, as Charlotte’s birthplace.  I studied several maps of Stolp County to find towns that could relate to the Dumras and Vandselkow listed on this document from the Indianapolis city archive in 1905. There’s Dumrese in the center of Stolp County and Wend Silkow about 27 kilometeres north.  Can’t you imagine that if a clerk was completing the application for the marriage license and Wilhelm said Wend Silkow with a German accent that she/he might write down Vandselkow???   Below is an excerpt from an old map with Stolp County, Dumrese and Wend Silkow highlighted in yellow.

       
    
     Were the 27 kilometers between these two towns too great a distance for Charlotte to get to know Ferdinand Marsischky?  Maybe Ferdinand worked for a farmer near Charlotte's village.  Or she came to Dumrese to help out in a cousin's home.  Arrangements for marriages were common in the mid 1800s.  Perhaps their fathers were connected in some way.  Future research will, hopefully, fill in some of these gaps in Charlotte Krause’s story.
     Today the village where Charlotte was born, Wend Silkow, is named Zelkowo and is in Stupsk, a district of Poland.  The wars and resettlements of people have probably wiped out traces of that Krause family living there in approximately 1825 (my estimated date of birth for Charlotte.)  As is true of the entire continent of Europe, the timeline of border and name changes for this town would be lengthy. 
       Where you see Wend Silkow, Pomerania, in the top right corner of this old map is today’s town of Zelkowo in Poland.  Here’s brief background from Wikipedia that shows that even though the name is new the village remains small:
         Żelkowo [ʐɛlˈkɔvɔ] (German: Wendisch Silkow) is a village in the administrative district of      Gmina Główczyce, within Słupsk County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland.  It lies approximately 11 kilometres (7 mi) west ofGłówczyce, 18 km (11 mi) north-east of Słupsk, and 96 km (60 mi) west of the regional capital Gdańsk.   The village has a population of 280.  Before 1945 the area was part of Germany. For the history of the region, see History of Pomerania.

----------------------------------------------------------

     Let’s Speculate About Charlotte’s Life:
     Charlotte’s life in Wend Silkow was likely one of hard work, centered around family and church.  Around the time she was born the king, Friedrich Wilhelm III, ordered the formation of a State church, Evangelische Kirche, and required everyone to attend.  Her family was most probably Lutheran, judging from the tradition carried on by her descendants after they emigrated to the U.S.  These religious requirements were the reason why some people emigrated to America.  It would be very interesting know how the Krause family felt about the church merger.
     I wonder also if Charlotte eventually migrated to another area of Germany with Ferdinand and their children.  The opportunities were limited in their small villages and they had at least three sons, August, Wilhelm and Albert.  Their small village life surely had plusses and minuses.  The community worked and celebrated as one.  But were there stresses that may have pushed Charlotte and her husband to take their family elsewhere?  Even after serfdom was abolished in 1811 in Pomerania, many peasants had a difficult time surviving with small amounts of land.  We know that in 1874 one of Charlotte’s granddaughters was born in Berlin, giving an indication that at least one of their sons moved on.  That’s another piece of this family tapestry that may eventually help to bring Charlotte’s life into sharper focus.
      I’ll be keeping my eyes and ears open and my research antennae up for more pieces of the history of Charlotte Krause. There are many more questions about Charlotte’s life than I have answers today.   
     Thanks for visiting Indiana Ties,
     Nancy

Related posts you may want to read:
Ferdinand Marsischky: The Wagon Maker From Pomerania
Ladies In My Line: Martha Marsischky Albers
Wilhelm Marsischky: Where Did He End Up?


Copyright © 2016 , Nancy Niehaus Hurley