Free Census Independence Weekend Finds

Two weeks since my last report and what do I have to show for it?  The short answer is little in comparison to the amount of time elapsed but here is a quick run-down, despite the hot temps and evening thunderstorms which threaten to cut my internet connection at any time.

This 4th of July weekend is free, FREE, US Federal Census viewing on Ancestry.com.  That means all US census records from 1790 to 1940 can be viewed and attached to your family tree for free!! 

I only learned about this last night and already have punched through some minor brickwalls.  I found my grandmother's grandmother's (Anna Guy Selye) sisters' families - right where they are supposed to be - and have cleared up the question of why she would go to Connecticut, as noted in this post.  Answer: she went to visit her youngest sister, Mary Ceclia Guy O'Brien, and her family.  Through this, I was also able to sort out more of the O'Brien family tree and find that those members are thriving along the eastern seaboard.

Another cool find was the afore mentioned Anna with her family, husband Devillo and four year old daughter Harriet, in the 1892 New York State Census on FamilySearch.org (view the full census image here; bottom of fourth column on the right).  The surname Selye was completely redefined by the enumerator as Sealey!  (Which only then makes me think: Posturepedic!)  Sadly this census is not free on Ancestry right now, nor does it contain new tantalizing information about the researched individuals but it is one more record off the list.

Whilst not part of the census collection, a death record indexed appeared for Anna's sister Helen Guy Phelan Davis.  Since I already know Helen's death date, I did not think that there would be much to concern myself with until I noticed that Helen and Anna's father's full name was listed: Clinton Alexander Guy.  I had long suspected that Clinton's middle name was Alexander, after his father, and now I finally have the proof.  The sad part is that this index is not just an index, it is a copy of the original record... AND, I have just missed great deals on getting that record.  Ancestry.com just had a half-off subscription rate and Pennsylvania increased their birth and death record copy costs this July 1st from $10 to $20!  Though to be fair, Pennsylvania is putting those extra $10 toward child welfare services.  Guess I will have to wait for the next sale.  Patience is a virtue?

For the time being, I will continue to search through both sides of my Mother's family tree for census records while they are free through Sunday.  ...Off for a Pepsi 8-pack mini run now but when I get back, I am going to patiently look through all 88 pages of the Santa Clara, California 1870 US census with the hope of finding Anna's husband Devillo with his first wife Juana Sanchez.  He appears in the California voter registration for that area from 1868-1871, so I am hoping that Devillo is missing from the 1870 census due to transcription error and not lack of recording by enumerator.

Have a happy and safe Independence Day weekend!

The Camelizer

Here is another awesome money saving tip I just found...and it's FREE!

It is called The Camelizer.  It is a nice little addition to your internet browser that only shows up when you use Amazon, Best Buy or NewEgg.

Just look at their product info:

Features

• View Camel price history charts without leaving retailer product pages.

• Easy access to the complete price history data on our site.

• Works on Amazon (US, UK, DE, FR, JP, CA), Best Buy and Newegg.

• Supports Chrome, Firefox and Safari.

This is my own "research" on the gidget for the Becoming an Accredited Genealogist book I am hoping to get with all my $5 Amazon redeemed SwagBucks!  This little addition shows you the lowest price, highest price (and not just Amazon's price but sellers on Amazon as well), create a price watch, and you can view price fluctuations from 1 month up to 1 year.  It sits as a tiny brown camel button next to your "favorites" star on the Chrome browser...and did I mention it does NOT cost a dime?! 

An Unlikely Place to Discover Genealogy Notes

In a recent book acquisition from PaperBackSwap.com, I was surprised and intrigued by genealogy notes inscribed on the back inside cover.  The book is the Scottish Clans & Tartans by Ian Grimble, circa 1973, and upon inquiry to the sender, the information did not belong to their family.  
There is no other indication of the prior owner; only the deft, neat hand describing the immigrant ancestors.  I reproduce them here in the hopes of finding someone for whom this information might be of use, assuming the original inscriber is no longer around.

Back cover overview

(10 mins later...)
Well, there are at least two family trees on Ancestry.com with the great, great grandparents listed with references and a quick Google search has those same ancestors well researched in the History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio, Vol. 2.  So, perhaps this is just an interesting artifact of traveling possessions.  It also serves as a reminder that we can find genealogy gems any where, not just family bibles!

Transcription

James Henry McCracken
1200

Great Grandfather Stockdale's
(Grandma Hanna's father)
Mother was a Ferguson

Great
Grandmother Stockdale was
a Latham and her mother
was a Davidson

Grandma Hanna's grandfather
and grandmother Stockdale
came fr/ Ireland when
about 6 years of age,
Robert Albert + Susan Davidson Latham
Susan Davidson was the
daughter of Lewis and Mary Davidson

(Webster ancestors)
Thomas Gore - came fr/ Ireland (1700's)
Laurence Richardson - " " " (1728)







Was this book previously in your family and now you want it back?  Shoot me an email make arrangements.

Small Break

ABQ SEWING CONVENTION

It may be another week or two before I can get back to anything AncestryFiles related, as I am trying to complete two dresses before the end of next week.  I am hoping to wear them to ------------------->

There is a coupon for half off admission price, so it is only $5 for all three days!  I could use getting out of the apartment a bit.  Plus, it is only $2 for an all day bus pass.  Now I just need to figure out how to rein in spending habits at this place.  I guess with no money that shouldn't be too tricky...  Patterns and good fabric will be my weakness.




Oh, and did you hear the wonderful news?  Not only is the OUTLANDER series by Diana Gabaldon being televised and aired this year, but filming has started this spring on the remake of the POLDARK series by Winston Graham!  I am super excited about the cast, with the exception of my namesake...just check out the IMBD site for the listing and you will understand.  I love the original series, even if it is dated and I can only watch it on VHS (yes, I have a working VHS player; it is actually built into my TV that I have had since the start of college...I won't say when that was), but am looking forward to this new adaptation.  Just look at who they cast as Ross Poldark: the lovely Aidan Turner!

POLDARK INFO HERE

If you have not seen his work, go watch the first two seasons of Being Human (UK original version), it is on Netflix streaming.  He will not be a disappointment.  What is there not to love about this dark Irish cutie?  (Other than his being a year younger than myself and living/working in the UK?)

Take a look at all these production stills and info about the filming here.

Did You Hear the News?!

The UK website for online genealogy research (findmypast.co.uk) has just announced the best thing to happen to genealogy since the release of the 1940 US Federal Census:

findmypast.co.uk article

Just look at what they have to say about the new records:

The National Archives of Ireland: Surviving census records 

But few realise that the destruction was not total. A great deal survived. We now know that records concerning more than 600,000 people in the 1821, 1831, 1841 and 1851 census records survive at the National Archives of Ireland. This is because for the first time they have all been digitally imaged, transcribed and published online. This is a free resource, available to all.

FREE!!  ....FREE!    ALL of these records are online ... digital images, transcribed ... it is all FREE!

Can you tell I am excited?!

findmypast.co.uk article

Most of my Irish ancestors came to the States around or before 1850 which means that now I can have a better chance of catching and tracing ancestors who previously were a stalled end.  This is particularly true for the northern Irish Campbell family and the southern Irish Holahans.

I am so eager to dive into this that I am staying up late without the aid of caffeine!

(An hour later...)

Wow! I am finding some good things, interesting points and if certain records are true, there are new facts to add to the family tree.  ...Sadly there is only the 1831 census for county Derry/Londonderry, where most of the Campbell family branch comes from.

Wilhelm Heddendorf and His Four Children

Finally, the exciting revision to the "Bemusing Case of the William Henry Heddendorfs" post, this time focusing entirely upon the Heddendorfs and their growth in America.   The (#) at the end of sentences refer to the source number listed at the end.

The ship Goethe upon which
Wilhelm Heddendorf traveled to America.

Our story begins with the arrival of Wilhelm Hinrich Diedrich Heddendorf to the shores of Manhattan's Castle Garden on the sixth of July 1863 (5, 11).  The voyage for this lone 19 year old farmer might have taken six or as little as two weeks to cross the Atlantic in the ship Goethe.  Prior to his arrival, Wilhelm was last living in his native residence of Hanover, Germany and intended to make America his new home (5).  His exact date of birth and religion are unknown.

No other passengers with the Heddendorf surname are listed on this crossing.  The only other Heddendorf to enter the United States through the immigration port of Castle Garden before Wilhelm's arrival was a 19 year Bernhard Heddendorf in 1852, making him 11 years Wilhelm's senior (5).  More research is needed to determine if Bernard is a relative but what we do know is that Bernhard was a old joiner - a type of carpenter who fits joints - when he arrived on the thirteenth of September 1852.  A record search for Bernard Heddendorf born in ~1833 has produced little results beyond his arrival to the States.

Original posting here

Unbeknownst to Wilhelm, he arrived a week before the Civil War Draft Riots which resulted in "five days of mayhem and bloodshed" starting on the morning of 13 July 1863 (6, p. 279).  There is more to the draft riots than I have room to report here but this excerpt on The New York City Draft Riots of 1863 provides a clear account reminding one of the less aggressive protests for the Vietnam War and draft just over a century later.

The beginning of 1863 also saw the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation and turn over of military servicemen's 2 year contract.  As such, new recruits were being sought for the 15th Infantry Division of the New York Volunteers that autumn.  How soon after Wilhelm's arrival to the States before joining the New York Volunteers is not known, although an interesting point brought up in the excerpt was the for-hire substitutes by rich men who did not wish to serve (17).  Did Wilhelm volunteer or did he substitute for someone with money?  Who knows.  Another reasonable option to enlist was for citizenship: "an 1862 law allowed foreign-born, honorably-discharged veterans of the U.S. Army to apply for citizenship without filing the declaration of intention; the residency requirement was set at one year" (4, p. 406).  Since there are no records indicating Wilhelm's intent to natural, citizenship through enlistment seems the most likely motive for service.  It is not clear what action, if any, Wilhelm saw during the Civil War nor if it was at this point that Wilhelm "Americanized" his name to William.  For the purposes of this post, we will continue to use his German name so as to be less confusing to keep track of family.

Soon after the war, Wilhelm set up residence and liquor business/saloon at 43 West Broadway (3, 28, 29), where he was to reside for the majority of his life and which is only a 15 minute walk (0.7 miles) from the infamous Five Points!  Within this location Wilhelm's life expands, beginning with the birth of his first son William Henry Heddendorf on 21st of August 1873 (38).  It is believed that William's mother is Anna Blohm as Wilhelm did not marry Anna until six months after William's birth on the 24th of February 1874 (7, 11).  Wilhelm was approximately 30 and Anna was 25 years old at the time.  It is through their marriage in which we learn the names of Wilhelm's parents: Wilhelm Heddendorf (big surprise there) and Louise Barthans (11).  (See the guide below.)  There would be three more children born to Wilhelm and Anna: Maria Auguste, born 03 Jan 1875 (10); Henry Blum, born 20 Jan 1878 (37); George Walter, born May 1880 (29).

The Wilhelm Heddendorf Family Tree

Other interesting points of note in Wilhelm's life:

1. 1875 - Listed on the registered distillers and licensed rectifiers (3).
2. 1877 - May have committed grand larceny with Claus Williams, judgement unknown (21).
3. 1880 - Expanded business to restaurant (28, 29).
4. 1882 - Won the Plattduetsche Festival walking match.  All nine male participants were noted as weighing "over two hundred pounds, and there was little fleetness to be looked for in such a party.  They went to work in earnest, however, and there was a vast deal of puffing and blowing among the big men..." (16).
5. Becomes a member of Schuetzen Corp., a rifle shooting club that started in 1857 in NY and is still current today in NJ and NY (12, 17).
6. Joins Munn Lodge F. & A. M. No. 190, a masonic lodge which included composer Irving Berlin and is now Lodge No. 203 (17).
7. Two of his children had red hair, Maria and Henry, the latter of whom is described as being tall and with blue eyes in his World War I draft registration card (37).
8. Wilhelm's first born, William Henry, was most likely blonde haired and blue eyed although by age 45, William is listed as being tall, having grey eyes and dark brown hair in his World War I draft registration card (38).
9. It is not known what his youngest child, George Walter, looked like.
10. The children received an eighth grade education (36).

Wilhelm and Anna's children continue to live with and support their parents until the children marry, particularly the eldest boys William and Henry (13, 30, 31).  William in particular appears to have thrown all of this energy into running and expanding his parents' business (1, 28) , including owning: 

• Property - approximately four, 3 and 4 story tenement buildings with store fronts in the 1400 Park Ave and East 104th corner of Manhattan, circa 1910 (22, 23, 28); 
• Livery and stable business from 1902 until 1912, which provided the third largest service to the NYC police (28);
• Casket maker and undertaker business for about 9 years from 1905-1912 (15, 27, 28).

According to family reports, there may have been even more businesses or "referrals" to other professionals along the Tammany lines, as William is said to always have a business card at the ready no matter the problem.  As William expands the variety of businesses he operates, his younger brother Henry tries his hand at the liquor business with little success (13).

Example of tenement buildings with store fronts
on Hester St., Lower East Side, 1901.
Original image: wirednewyork.com

Sadly William's father Wilhelm did not live long enough to fully enjoy all of the fruits of his son's labors - he passed away on 14 March 1895, aged 51 (17).  It is uncertain how long the family resided in their new home before Wilhelm's death but at some point between 1880 and 1895, the Heddendorfs oscillated residence between the area of East 104th and Park Ave, near the northeast corner of Central Park (13, 29, 30).  It is a six vastly different miles from their starting point at 98 W Broadway!  Perhaps it was Wilhelm's early death coupled with the burgeoning new business prospects that the caused the Heddendorf family to take on boarders in 1900 in their uptown location (30).  Whatever the case, it is better than being a boarder.

Park Ave looking south from 84th Street about 1912, 970 Park Avenue is just past the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola. Museum of The City of New York.
Imaged referenced by The New York TImes.

In the ten years following Wilhelm's death, Anna would see the marriage of two of their children, birth of two grandsons and death of one of the children.  Daughter Maria (or Mary) took on the profession of piano teacher before marrying at the age of 25 in 1902 to Christian Gottlieb Loffler/Lofflier/or Loeffler (30).  A son Eugene (b. 1908) may have been adopted from Christian's family, as Eugene is barely acknowledged as a Heddendorf in his uncle's William's (eventual) will (25, 26).  Anna's son George Walter, or Walter as he was often listed as, was probably married the year before his sister's marriage (1901) to May Bisch and quickly had two sons, William Henry (b. 1901) and Henry Walter (b. 1903) (32).  Sadly, Walter dies at the age of 25 on 22 October 1905 in Liberty, New York; how Walter died or why he was in Liberty - as his permanent residence and occupation as a bookkeeper were always listed as being in Manhattan - remains a mystery (18).

Almost a decade after the death of Wilhelm's youngest son, Walter's wife May passes in 1913; she was only 38 at the time with cause of death being unknown (19).  Their two sons William and Henry were only aged 12 and 10, respectively, when their parents passed.  Records show that the sons went to live with their aunt Maria and her son Eugene (34).  The year before May's death, 1912, Henry marries Henrietta G. Hahner; no children were produced as a result of this union (8, 33, 36).  Death again visits the Heddendorf family on 02 June 1915, this time taking the mother Anna in the 67th year of her life (20).  It would take another ten years before William married in 1925 (age 52) to widow Victoria Danjunas Isler, producing two daughters, Edith (b. 1926) and Victoria (b. 1928), with a step daughter, Jane Isler (b. 1908) (35).

Perhaps it was the lack of interest by certain members of Anna Blohm's grandchildren or mayhaps it was the fact of being the namesake but it would appear that William's nephew, William Henry, eventually took over the some responsibility, if not the profession, of owning and operating a bar (14).  It should not come as a surprise that William's liquor businesses started to fail at the start of Prohibition with debts being called in, and by the early 1930s, William's marriage of less than ten years also crumbles (24).  William passes in 1937, leaving an estate worth more than $8,000 personal and $32,000 in real estate, which is entirely left to his surviving family members (25, 26).  Despite his sister Maria being left as the executor of William's will, their brother Henry fights the grandsons over the monetary distributions, eventually taking over as executor when Maria followed her brother William H. eleven years later, passing on 08 February 1948 (2, 25, 26).

The nephews William Henry and Henry Walter both move to Florida after World War II, where William H. continued the bar owner profession and had two sons of his own William Henry (Jr.) and Richard with his wife Josephine Flately (9).  It is believed that Junior also took on the bar owner profession when the time came.  Wilhelm's granddaughters Edith and Victoria are known to have married though only Edith had children (three daughters).  Their cousins Eugene Loeffler and Henry Heddendorf may not have married or had any children.

End Note: Wilhelm Heddendorf and his family descendants have a family burial plot in Woodlawn Cemetary, Brooklyn, NY.  The majority of Wilhelm's children are believed to buried there and just as soon as I win the lottery, I will have the extra funds to confirm this with the cemetery.  Cost for copying interment records are $53 per deceased individual and $10 for each additional individual, possible total cost: $143!

There are also more sources than listed here but these are the majority from which I based the family of Wilhelm Heddendorf and his descendants through two generations.  If you find anything in error, please let me know; you can comment below or shoot me an email.

Sources

1. The American Bottler, Vol. 26, p. 33; William Henry Heddendorf.
2. Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, 278 A.D. 559 (1951), 30 Jan 1951, In the Matter of the Accounting of Eugene Loeffler, as Administrator of The Estate of Mary A. Loeffler, Deceased, Appellant. Henry B. Heddendorf, Respondent; Original Report
3. Bonfort's Wine & Liquor Trade Directory for the United States, 1875, p. 405; Wilhelm Heddendorf.
4. Croom, Emily Anne. The Genealogist's Companion and Sourcebook. Betterway Books, Chicago. 2003. p. 406.
5. CastleGarden.org ; search criteria: last name Heddendorf, first name leave blank.
6. Harris, Leslie. "The New York City Draft Riots of 1863", excerpt from In the Shadow of Salvery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. 2003. p. 279-283.
7. Index to New York City Marriages, 1866-1937. Indices prepared by the Italian Genealogical Group and the German Genealogy Group, and used with permission of the New York City Department of Records/Municipal Archives.  Wilhelm Heddendorf and Anna Blohm, certificate # 1392, Manhattan country, 24 Feb 1874.
8. Index to New York City Marriages, 1866-1937. Indices prepared by the Italian Genealogical Group and the German Genealogy Group, and used with permission of the New York City Department of Records/Municipal Archives.  Henry Blum Heddendorf and Henrietta Hahner, certificate # 8413, Kings country, 14 August 1912.
9. Index to New York City Marriages, 1866-1937. Indices prepared by the Italian Genealogical Group and the German Genealogy Group, and used with permission of the New York City Department of Records/Municipal Archives.  William Henry Heddendorf and Josephine Flately, certificate # 1392, Bronx country, 14 June 1922.
10. New York, Births and Christenings, 1640-1962, Maria Augusta Heddendorf, 03 Jan 1875; citing Manhattan, New York, New York, USA, reference ; FHL microfilm 1322085.
11. New York, Marriages, 1686-1980, index, Wilhelm Hinrich Diedrich Heddendorf and Anna Blohon, 24 Feb 1874; citing reference ; FHL microfilm 1561974.
12. New York Schuetzen Corp.
13. New York, State Census 1905, Manhattan, A.D. 32, E.D. 16, New York, New York; citing p. 58, line 12-14; for Anna Blohm Heddendorf, William Heddendorf, Henry Heddendorf in household of Bernard Conron.
14. New York, State Census 1925, New York, A.D. 06, E.D. 19, Bronx, New York, United States; p. 89, line 30, New York State Archives, Albany; for Wiliam H Heddendorf.
15. New York, State Census 1925, New York, A.D. 01, E.D. 43, Bronx, New York, United States; p. 35, line 26, New York State Archives, Albany; for Henry B Heddendorf, Henriette Hahner Heddendorf.
16. New York Herald, 18 August 1882, p. 4, col. 6, "The Plattduetsche Festival".
17. New York Herald, 17 March 1895, No. 21391, page 1; Obituary, William "Wilhelm" Heddendorf.
18. New York Herald, 25 October 1905, No. 25265, page 1; Obituary, Walter Heddendorf.
19. New York Herald, 04 October 1913, No. 28197, page 1; Obituary, May Bisch Heddendorf.
20. New York Herald, 04 June 1915, No. 28775, page 1; Obituary, Anna Blohm Heddendorf.
21. The New York Times, 21 Feb 1877, p. 8, col. 2; for Wilhelm Heddendorf.
22. The New York Times, 27 May 1906, In The Real Estate Field, William Heddendorf.
23. The New York Times, 07 October 1910, In The Real Estate Field, William Heddendorf.
24. The New York Times, 21 May 1922, Find Morris Canal Bootleg Waterway, William Heddendorf.
25. The New York Times, 21 May 1937, Wills for Probate, Bronx County, Letters of Administration, William Heddendorf.
26. The New York Times, 02 June 1937; Wills for Probate, William Heddendorf.
27. Real Estate Record & Builder's Guide, Vol. 8, No. 173, 02 July 1871, p. 2; for William Henry Heddendorf casket company.
28. Trow's New York City Directory circa 1877, 1880, 1893, 1902, 1904-1912, 1917, 1922.
29. United States Federal Census, Year: 1880; Census Place: New York City, New York, New York; Roll: 867; Family History Film: 1254867; Page: 257B; Enumeration District: 015; Image: 0226.
30. United States Federal Census, Year: 1900; Census Place: Manhattan, New York, New York; Roll: T623_1121; Page: 18A; Enumeration District: 901.  For Anna Blohm Heddendorf, William Henry Heddendorf, Henry Heddendorf, Maria Heddendorf, Henry Blum Heddendorf, Walter Heddendorf.
31. United States Federal Census, Year: 1910; Census Place: Manhattan Ward 12, New York, New York; Roll: T624_1019; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 0467; FHL microfilm: 1375032. For Anna Blohm Heddendorf, William Henry Heddendorf, Henry Blum Heddendorf.
32. United States Census, Year 1910, Bronx Assembly District 35, New York, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 1598, sheet 11A, family 222, NARA microfilm publication T624, FHL microfilm 1375015. For May Bisch Heddendorf, William Henry Heddendorf, Henry Walter Heddendorf.
33. United States Federal Census, Year: 1920; Census Place: Bronx Assembly District 2, Bronx, New York; Roll: T625_1133; Page: 15B; Enumeration District: 145; Image: 259. For Henry Blum Heddendorf, Henrietta Hanher Heddendorf.
34. United States Census, Year 1920, Bronx Assembly District 6, Bronx, New York, United States; citing sheet 8A, family 159, NARA microfilm publication T625, FHL microfilm 1821138. For Mary Heddendorf Loeffler, William Henry Heddendorf, Henry Walter Heddendorf.
35. United States Federal Census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Babylon, Suffolk, New York; Roll: 1649; Page: 7B; Enumeration District: 0016; Image: 978.0; FHL microfilm: 2341383. For William Henry Heddendorf, Victoria Danjunas Isler, Victoria Heddendorf, Edith Heddendorf.
36. United States Federal Census, Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, Bronx, New York; Roll: T627_2462; Page: 6A; Enumeration District: 3-109. For Henry Blum Heddendorf, Henrietta Hanher Heddendorf.
37. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Registration Location: Bronx County, New York, Roll: 1754129, Draft Board: 19, record for Henry B. Heddendorf.
38. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Registration Location: Bronx County, New York, Roll: 1754130, Draft Board: 20, record for William Henry Heddendorf.

Coming Soon!

Family history and genealogy cannot be completed in a day, a week or even a couple of months.  When you try to complete a story or report on a family or individual, there always seems to be more records and mysteries to search for and uncover.  Woo is the day the dust settles on historical records search!

In trying to parse my time between completing online courses, learn new programming languages and remember to eat, genealogy tends to be put on the back burner.  Now that my schedule has cleared a bit though, I am working on finishing the Heddendorf revision post, presenting as much new information as possible.  With any luck, I should finish this story by the end of Sunday, fingers crossed.

Further posts will try to finish profiling the McCue family members in detail with intermittent posts on Anna Guy Selye's papers.  Here is a rough idea of what I hope to cover:

1. Add more photos.
2. The remaining McCue family branches with info:

• Ida Osterndorff Holahan's sisters Emma and May.
• Claus Heinrich Blohm and his five daughters
• The remaining Blohm daughters families: Zimmerman and Weilage
• Eben W. Osterndorff's brother Henry

3. Really would like to explore a post completely on my Grandmother's dance career with Ballet Caravan.
4. Eventually get to the Campbell family branches.

This should take up at least the next six months, if I pace myself.

Old Tool Made New in the Genealogical Toolbox

This past month's genealogy research has almost entirely been commandeered by new discoveries within the Heddendorf and Osterndorf family trees.  With the thanks to the last post on the William Henry Heddendorfs, which brought connections to unknown fourth and third cousins, I was redirected to a website I had not used in while and broke down another Brick Wall!  

That website: FultonHistory.com; it may appear simplistic in it's layout but the power is undeniable.  The site provides a straight forward search of over 26 MILLION old New York newspapers, for FREE, and you can see scanned images of the full page as well as zoom in for details.  The best method for searching a person is starting with exact phrase with last name, first name or initial.  For example, "Heddendorf, W" or "Heddendorf, William," though you actually do not need to worry about case sensitivity, thus, "heddendorf, W" will also work.  These searches will not highlight where on the page the match was made, sadly, but the search results will list a year for each associated "find" and the link turns purple after viewing, which means you do not have to remember exactly every result that you examined.  I do recommend using the website in anything but Internet Explorer since IE does not zoom well and takes a while to load.

Here is a screen shot of an exact search for "Heddendorf, W D" with the second result showing.

What we are looking for is in the bottom of the second column here, under the Obituary and In Memorium sections.

Zooming in even further, we can now clearly read Walter D. Heddendorf's obituary, who was also known as George Walter Heddendorf in the census records.

And just look at all the information we get out of this obituary:

• Location and date of death;
• Spouse's maiden name;
• Approximate year of birth from age-at-death;
• Funeral location and date;
• Social groups of which he was a member.

That knocked out two brick walls with this one record: George's date of death and his wife's maiden name in the Heddendorf family tree!  All this information I can now add AND cite in my genealogy family tree software (i.e. Ancestry, FamilyTree, etc).  When adding the citation, remember to cite the newspaper the information comes from (eg. newspaper title, volume/issue, page, column/section) with the repository being fultonhistory.com.  If the text is not too lengthy, it is also worthwhile to transcribe the text with the digital record/citation.

Oh, and if the paper you are viewing appears fuzzy even after you zoom in, do not worry, it is probably not you.  There are a couple of pages in my own search that were less than clear, making letters indistinguishable and impossible to read names.  Hopefully there are more good views than poor ones for your query.

So hop to it!  What will you find in your search?

Gadzooks!

I cannot believe it has been over a month since the last post.  I don't know if any body else has suffered the recent flu or if they have a fridge that wants them to lose weight without all the hard work, but I sure have!  Ugh, there were two days (a night and a morning) where it felt like I lost 10 lbs just by going to the bathroom.  (Sadly that did not actually happen.  Back to the Brazilian Butt Lift videos!)

Well, I can tell you that whilst I may not have made any breakthroughs on the family tree, I have watched a number of Legacy FamilyTree Webinars and gained a few pointers and resources I had not considered.

Plus, I just became addicted to the television series Copper, set in New York City's infamous Five Points during the later half of the Civil War.  Great sets (filmed in Ontario, Canada), costumes and of course acting.  Just waiting now for season 2 to arrive in the mail to find out what happened to the characters!  The gritty realism of the show made me reexamine all of my records on both sides of the tree to see if any of the family lived in that area.  The result was a resounding "NO".  The only possibility would be through John Aloysius McCue but without knowing more of his parents, I cannot get passed the 20th century.

Speaking of Five Points, that oh so notorious, immigrant area of lower Manhattan, one of the webinars covered GoogleEarth and their ability to add historic map layers, similar to the methods used by ArcGIS, that I might just reinstall GoogleEarth.


....Since this is a slow process, if anyone has a particular person they are looking for and do not see them in the tabs or one of the posts, please feel free to ask me in the comments or via email.

Happy Hunting!

The Bemusing Case of the William Henry Heddendorfs

Or, How to Keep It In the Family

This is the story of a side branch of the McCue family tree that was lately brought to my attention and quite hijacked my time for the past couple of days, weeks really.  Hopefully I will be able to keep everything straight and understandable with this side branch of the family tree, the Heddendorfs.  The last posting of the McCue side was of Eben William Osterndorff and his family; what I should like to relate now is in connection to Eben's wife Margaret Blohm.  

Here is your Genealogy Road Map.  Sorry it was hand written, on the fly, with the Blohm children placed unintentionally out of order.  If you are able to follow this then the daughter of William H. is a fourth cousin to my Mom, making me a fourth cousin once removed from the daughter.

Back Story
Margaret was the middle child in a household of five daughters and one son: Mary E, Anna, John (passed away at the age of 2), Minnie and Augusta Caroline, all born in New York City to German immigrant parents of Lutheran faith.  Their father, Claus Henrich Blohm, who sometime went by C. H., C. Henry or Charles Henry, was a baker and liquor dealer for the 16 years he resided in New York before his passing at the early age of 40 in 1858.  The eldest daughter, Mary, was only 12 at the time of his death, whilst his youngest, Augusta, was just born.  There is some evidence that C. H. Blohm may have extended his business into Blohm & Co with his brother-in-law but the evidence is not substantial.  A group of businesses more than merely a bar owner would explain how the Blohm daughters were able to have control of a number of properties around Manhattan 10 to 15 years after their father's death.  Sadly Claus' Letter of Administration cannot be located, despite being in the Index, which would have provided information on how the courts settled business affairs in the absence of a will.

In the years between Claus Blohm's death and the daughters appearance in the mortgage records, three of the daughters marry:

• 1865  Mary (age 19) to Leo Zimmerman
• 1868  Margaret (age 18) to Eben Osterndorff
• 1874  Anna (age 25) to Wilhelm Heddendorf

Minnie appears not to have married or married much later in life, whilst Augusta married in 1882 at the age of 24 to George Weilage.  Two of couples continued the liquor business, with one couple thriving, the Heddendorfs.

Anna Blohm Heddendorf
Anna Blohm, born 1848, remained with her family until her marriage at age 25 to Wilhlem Heinrich Diedrich Heddendorf on 24 Feb 1874, though he is often recorded as William Heddendorf.  Thankfully for us, Wilhelm's profession and location are quite immutable: always living on West Broadway, Manhattan and dealing in liquors.  By 1880, Wilhelm and Anna have four children: William Henry, Maria/Mary Auguste, Henry Blohm and George Walter.  This is where it gets complicated, hence the Genealogical Road Map.

William Henry Heddendorf
William Henry follows in his father's profession of dealing in liquors but would appear to take full control of his father's and mother's liquor businesses after the death of Wilhelm in 1896.  William H. continued to build up his liquor business with his brother Henry and the Lion Brewery company on the Upper West Side where the family had resided.  After the acquistion of a number of tennant and store front buildings, William Henry is elected the second vice-president of the Waldamere Club, a social club comprised of the most prominent business men in Harlem, in 1901.  It is at this time that William goes into the business of stabling horses, primarily as the third largest for the police in Manhattan.  By 1909, William has given the liquor business to his brother Henry and branched out into the undertaking business.

Heddendorf Siblings
Maria or Mary took on the profession of piano teacher before marrying at the age of 25 in 1902 to Christian Gottlieb Loffler/Lofflier/Loeffler and having one son, Eugene.  Maria and William's brother Walter, as he was often listed as, was married the year before to May and quickly had two sons, William Henry and Henry Walter.  Sadly, Walter dies in 1906 with his wife following soon behind in 1912; the two sons were only aged 11 and 9, respectively, when their parents passed.  Records show that the sons William H. and Henry W. went to live with their aunt Maria and her son.

Maria's brothers marry later in life, with Henry marrying in 1912 to Henrietta G. Hahner (no known children) and William marrying in 1925 (age 52) to a widow Victoria, producing two daughters, Edith and Victoria.

Business Continues
Perhaps it was the lack of interest by certain members of Anna Blohm's grandchildren or mayhaps it was the fact of being the namesake, but it would appear that William H.'s nephew, William Henry, took over the some responsibility, if not the profession, of owning and operating a bar.  It should not be a surprise that William H.'s business started to fail at the start of Prohibition with debts being called in, and by the early 1930s, William H.'s marriage of less than ten years also crumbles.  William H. passes in 1937, leaving an estate worth more than $8,000 personal and $32,000 in real estate, which is entirely left to his surviving family members.  

The nephews William Henry and Henry Walter both move to Florida after World War II, where William H. continued the bar owner profession and had two sons of his own William Henry (Jr.) and Richard.  It is believed that Junior also took on the bar owner profession.  Edith and Victoria are known to have married though it is uncertain whether either produced any children.  It is also uncertain whether their cousins Eugene Loeffler or Henry Heddendorf married or had any children.  All four latter individuals are believed to have continued to reside in New York.

Sources:
US Federal Census 1850 - 1880, 1900 - 1940; New York, Florida

New York State Census 1855, 1905

New York County, Letters of Administration Index, 1743 - 1875

Trow's City Directory, Manhattan and Bronx

New York Times, Obituary

New York Times, Real Estate and Mortgage

New York Times, Wills for Probate

The Tammany Times

From the Archives of Anna - Post 1

Here is a list I encountered whilst confirming the locations of Anna Guy Selye's movement.  The list is from her collection of writings and consists of "Kin - also girlhood friends - & playmates & neighbors," as Anna describes the names.

Eugene Doncette
Edward      "       (later French Priest)
Augusta Middlebrook
Allie Wilson (Albert)
Elisabeth Wilson (Libbie)
Minnie Fraser - & John
John Carman (Preacher) older
Dr. & Mrs. Duncan Carman D.D.
Edward Carman Divinity Student much older than I 
Rosie Francis
Kate & Mary Noonan (older)
Mr. & Mrs. Fisher (Ponsant French)
Dr. & Mrs. John R. Barber Md.
Elisabeth & Susan (Su) Miller
John Carman
Aunt Adeline & Julia Hampton
Calvin Hampton - Uncle
Grandfather - Alexander T. Guy
born 1796 - ran away at 16 to join the Army 1812 - later "Indian War"

Searching for free through the 1875 New York State Census on FamilySearch.org, I was able to locate five individuals from the list residing in Rochester, Monroe, New York.  They include the following:

• Allie (Albert George) Wilson, age 7 (born 1868), whose father is a Real Estate Dealer;
• John and Mary Fraser, age 7 & 8 (born 1868 & 1869), whose father is a cabinet maker;
• Kate (Kity) and Mary Noonan, age 18 & 16 (born 1857 & 1859), work as Box Shop Hands.

The latter individuals are most interesting as Anna's notes have stated that as a child, Anna was sent to work in a milliner's shop winding spools of thread where some of the women took pity on her.  Perhaps Kate and Mary Noonan were two of these women.

Another interesting find was sorting out Calvin Hampton, Aunt Adeline and daughter Julia Hampton.  Prior to Anna's list, I had known of her Aunt Adeline but had thought that it might have been her sister Julie who married Calvin.  This new research has further confirmed that nearly all of Anna's paternal family members moved from the Livingston Co, New York area to the Hillsdale, Jonesville Co, Michigan area in the mid 1800s.

But it is just past midnight now and all the remaining finds will have to wait until the morning...