Brick Wall People Redux – Part 21 – Francis Curran

No Known Photo

Name: Francis Curran
Birth: About 1814
Death: About 1877, Antrim, Ireland
Marriage: unknown
Location(s): Antrim, Ireland
Relation to me: Francis Curran was my mother's father's mother's mother's father's father. Which makes him 7th generation before me.
Alias(es): none known
Parents: unknown
Spouse(s): unknown
Children: 1 known – Thomas Curran
Other Family: none known

Details:
Francis is still a mystery to me. When I started working on my family tree, it was the Curran family I so desperately hoped to find, but all I had was my great-great grandmother, Elizabeth Curran. I was finally able to find her parents' names a few years back, and with them, I was also able to find a wedding record that listed their fathers' names, so I got even one more generation back on one side of each branch. However, I've still made little progress, despite my Ancestry account.

As things stand now, Francis and Thomas are the only two people I have for this family. I have no idea who Francis married, or how many children they had. I also don't know where Francis was born. I would love to know all of that, and to firm up whether this branch is actually the pure Irish strain I speculate they are, unlike my other three Irish branches.

Proof:
1) I first found Francis on his son's marriage record to Jennie Blair, which nothing but his name.
2) The second was a death record in the Irish Civil registry, that lists his birth and death dates, and that he died in Antrim, Ireland, though I'm not entirely certain this is him. Francis Curran isn't an uncommon name, so it is possible the record is not his.

Needed:
I have no new information on Frances at all. In particular, I have no BMD info, so I would love to firm up the dates I have for him. As stated above, I'd love to know the names of any other family members aside from his son, Thomas, particularly his parents, wife, and children. And I'd love to know if these were Protestant the way the rest of my family were, and if they were always living in this area.

As always, if my family or anyone out there has any more information on this family, I'd love to talk to you about them. I'd love to learn more on any of them, if at all possible.

Original Post
Other Posts About Francis Curran:

Brick Wall People Redux – Part 21 – Susanne Pedersdatter

No Known Photo

Name: Susanne Pedersdatter
Birth: 1787
Death: unknown
Marriage: September 21, 1819, Trondheim, Norway
Location(s): Trondheim, Norway
Relation to me: Susanne Pedersdatter was my mother's father's father's mother's mother's mother. Which makes her 7th generation before me.
Alias(es): none known
Parents: unknown
Spouse(s): Henrich Hansen
Children: 3 known - Gunnild Marie, Karen, Pauline Henrikke
Other Family: none known

Details:
Susanne's information echoes her husband, as most of their information comes from records of their children. Like him, I have no records before her, so she is the beginning of this line for me at the moment. I assume her father's name was either Peder or Peter, but beyond that, I have no clue where to start looking for her family. All I can assume is that she is of Norwegian ancestry, at least until I learn differently. I'd love to know where and when she was born, how many children she had, if perhaps she was married before Henrich (which I have noticed in cases where there are no parents for the wife on a marriage record).

Proof:
1) The first proof I have for her is Pauline's birth record. This gives very little information, but it was the first time I had found her name on any records regarding Pauline.
2) She is also listed on her own marriage record, though that gave me little more information, and no information on her parents' names, unfortunately. As I said above, that leads me to speculate that this may not have been her first marriage, but that's pure speculation at this time, given how old the record is.

New Proof of Susanne:
3) As I said, I do now have their marriage record, though no parents are listed on it.
4) I also have her listed with her husband on all three of their listed daughters' birth records.
5) And also on their baptism records.

Needed:
And that's it. Again, aside from the info on their marriage record, I have no BMD info for her, so I would love to learn more about her and her family in general. I would love to know for certain how many children she and Henrich had. And did she have children with other men? Who were her parents? Did she have any siblings? All questions I'd love to have answered.


As always, if my family or anyone out there has any more information on this family, I'd love to talk to you about them. I'd love to learn more on any of them, if at all possible.

Original Post

And I have no other posts about Susanne at this time.

Brick Wall People Redux – Part 20 – Henrick Hansen

No Known Photo

Name: Henrich Hansen
Birth: 1793
Death: March 11, 1838, Hadsel, Nordland, Norway
Marriage: September 21, 1819, Trondheim, Norway
Location(s): Trondheim, Norway
Relation to me: Henrich Hansen was my mother's father's father's mother's mother's father. Which makes him 7th generation before me.
Alias(es): none known
Parents: unknown
Spouse(s): Susanne Pedersdatter
Children: Gunnild Marie, Karen, and Pauline Henrikke
Other Family: none known

Details:
Henrich Hanson is one where the names start to get blurred in my family tree. Given his daughter's name, I assume the Roness was a location appellation, and that he likely had it too at one point, just not on the records I have found. But because I have not found it in the records I have that show him, I am still a bit unsure if he is the father I am trying to find in this instance, as he is not listed in the family record that was compiled by one of the Bordewich family in Minnesota. He is listed on his daughter's marriage record, but the name is such a common name, it's hard to be certain I have the correct one.

I know nothing of his life, though I assume he was born in Norway, and will until I am proven otherwise wrong. Beyond that, I have almost nothing. I don't know what he did for a living, or where he lived, though it is likely he was located in Trodheim for a time, as that is where his daughter was born. I'd love to know more about him and his family, both with his wife, and what siblings he may have had.

Proof:
1) My first proof for Henrick is his daughter's marriage record. Without that, I would have had no clue even who to start looking for. It gives only his name, however, which got me little further.
2) The second proof I have for him was Pauline's birth record. This gives only a bit more information, but it also lists his wife, which made it possible to find the third bit of proof.
3) With his wife's name, I was also able to find a marriage record for the couple, though that gave me only a little more information, and got me no further back in Henrich's line.

New Proof of Henrich Hansen:
4) I have birth records for his daughters Henrikke, Gunnild, and Karen.
5) I also have baptism records for all three as well.
6) His current death date from a record which I believe is his, though I am not entirely certain of, as it does not list his wife or children.

Needed:
As with most of my other brick walls, I have little BMD info, and one of the dates I do have is uncertain at this time. I would love to find more proof of his death date, preferably something that connects him to his children or wife. As I said above, I'd also love to know more about his life with his wife, and if they only had three children or if there were more. I would also still love who his parents were, and if he had any siblings. I'd also like to understand the Roness name better, as I'm sure there's something there that I am missing.


As always, if my family or anyone out there has any more information on this family, I'd love to talk to you about them. I'd love to learn more on any of them, if at all possible.

Original Post
And I have no other posts about Henrick, as he's so far back in my family tree.

Brick Wall People Redux – Part 19 – Hans Henrich Bordevick

No Known Photo

Name: Hans Henrich Bordevick
Birth: 1769, Bardowick, Germany
Death: April 26, 1813, Veilholmen, Norway
Marriage: August 23, 1796, Trondheim, Norway
Location(s): Bardowick, Germany; Veilholmen, Norway, Trondheim, Norway
Relation to me:Hans Henrich Bordevick was my mother's father's father's mother's father's father. Which makes him 7th generation before me. He is also 8th generation on the other side of this same family.
Alias(es): Hans Henrich Bordewich
Parents: unknown
Spouse(s): Anna Magdalena Johnsdatter Tiller
Children: Ole Hansen, Johan Petter, Hans Oliver
Other Family: none known

Details:
Hans is one of the few of my brick walls that has been almost researched to death. Not by me, but by the Bordewich/ Bordewick family in general. We know he was born in an old town that had been decimated during the Hundred Years war, and that is where our ancestral name of Bordevig/ Bordevick/ Bordewich/ Bordewick comes from. There is some speculation that he changed his name at some point before leaving Germany or after arriving in Norway, as we have found records with similar information, but the name itself does not match. As of yet, this has not been proven, however.

What we do know is that Hans Henrich arrived in Norway in the late 1700s and one of our first records of him is his papers for Norwegian citizenship so that he could become a ship's captain. We also have documentation on a few ships, and of his marriage to a lovely Norwegian girl by the name of Anna, with whom he had three boys. The eldest died in infancy, and Hans died himself when the youngest boy was only about six in a shipwreck of the coast of Norway. He and his crew made land, but froze to death before help could reach them. His eldest remaining son took care of the family as well as he could after his passing, though we have little record of that time until Johan's own marriage.

Anna lived for many years past her husband's early death, dying in 1846, some thirty years later.

Proof:
1) As I said above, the family has researched Hans Henrich heavily in an attempt to get past the block in the tree he represents. So I was given quite a bit of information on Johan over the years from my grandfather's notes, as well as the other Genealogists in my extended family, the primary version of which was various forms of the family tree.
2) The second bit of proof I have on Hans Henrich is the notes from Johan Petter, who recorded quite a bit about his family over the years, though mostly about his children.
3) The first time I was able to find information on my family online was a tree about the Hagerup family, which was related to Johan's daughter-in-law, who married my great-great-great grandfather.
4) After that, I began to find records at Family Search. The most important of these is the marriage record for Hans Henrich and Anna Magdalena Tiller.
5) The Baptismal record for Johan Petter also has Hans Henrich listed, though Johan is listed as Johan Petter Hans Henrichsen Bordevick.
6) Then there is Johan's marriage record to his first wife, and the marriage record of Hans Oliver to Edwardine Tiller (an adopted daughter into his mother's brother's family, the story goes).

New Proof of Hans Henrich:
7) I now have a birth record for Oliver, Johan's younger brother.
8) And I also have baptismal records for all three of his sons.
9) There is also a marriage record for Oliver to his wife Edvardine.

Needed:
In this case, as you can see, I have a bit more. I have firmed up his death date now, but still don't know his exact date of birth. The main thing we're looking for is proof of Hans Henrich's life in Germany, and where he was born. We'd love to know who his parents were. As I said, we have a guess on this, but no way to prove it at this time, so we are currently unable to get further in this family. I also have a suspicion that he may have come to Norway with a brother, perhaps, as there are records of another Bordewig in Norway at about the same time, though I haven't done a detailed search on him yet. Probably a good next step to take, actually.

As always, if my family or anyone out there has any more information on this family, I'd love to talk to you about them. I'd love to learn more on any of them, if at all possible.

Other Posts About Hans Henrich:

Brick Wall People Redux – Part 18 – Anne Sorensdatter

No Known Photo

Name: Anne Sorensdatter
Birth: about 1795, Slots-Bjergby, Denmark
Death: February 2, 1833, Sørbymagle, Sorø, Denmark
Marriage: November 20, 1817, Slots-Bjergby Denmark
Location(s): Slots-Bjergby, Denmark
Relation to me: Anne Sorensdatter would be my father's mother's mother's mother's mother's mother. Which would make her 7th generation before me, if I can prove her.
Alias(es): None known at this time.
Parents: unknown, though her father's name is likely Soren.
Spouse(s): Henrich Christian Schrøder
Children: Christiane Maren, Birthe Marie, Caroline, Niels
Other Family: none known

Details:
I found Anne and her husband in a PAF file on Family Search, which means that the connection was highly speculative, but at this point, I am fairly certain she is my Birthe Marie's mother.

Proof:
1) As I said, the initial proof I had of Anne was a PAF file at Family Search, which is next to no proof at all, but it was a good placeholder, and led me to more proof once I had found her.

New Proofs I have found of Anne:
2) I have a record of her daughter Caroline's death, listing her and her husband.
3) I also have Anne's death record, which lists her husband as just Schroder, and gives a different birth date than the one I have, which may mean this is not mine, but a lot of the information matches, enough for me to hold onto it for a moment.
4) I also have their marriage record, which I find very interesting, because it lists her as widowed. Unfortunately, it gives me no information on her husband, but at least it's something else to look for.
5) I do now have a birth record for Birthe Marie which lists both Christian Henrich and Anna.
6) I also have birth records for Christiane Maren, Caroline, and Niels, all of which list Anne and her husband.
7) I also have confirmation records for Christiane Maren and Birthe Marie, listing Anne and her husband.

Needed:
As you can see, the information is now much more complete than what I got from the PAF file. However, because that's where my initial information came from, I have no further information on her family. I would love to know about this first marriage of hers, and who her parents were as well, and if she had any siblings.


As always, if my family or anyone out there has any more information on this family, I'd love to talk to you about them. I'd love to learn more on any of them, if at all possible.

Original Post

At this time, I have no other posts about Anne.

Brick Wall People Redux – Part 17 – Henrich Christian Schrøder

No Known Photo

Name: Henrich Christian Schrøder
Birth: 1790, Slots-Bjergby, Denmark
Death: unknown
Marriage: 1817, Slots-Bjergby, Denmark
Location(s): Slots-Bjergby, Denmark
Relation to me: Henrich Christian Schrøder was my father's mother's mother's mother's mother's father. Which makes him 7th generation before me.
Alias(es): None known at this time.
Parents: unknown
Spouse(s): Anne Sorensdatter
Children: 5 known – Chrestian, Maren, Birthe Marie, Caroline, Niels
Other Family: none known

Details:

Despite looking, I still have not found out much more about Henrich and his wife. I am still missing a great deal of information about this man, despite what I have found at Ancestry and Family Search. I do hope to find more in the future.

Proof:
1) The only proof I had of Henrich was a PAF file I found at Family Search, so the information was sketchy at best but the Birthe Marie in the file definitely matched mine, so it matches in that way, at the very least.

New Proof of Henrich:
2) A death record for one of his daughters, listing his and his wife's name.
3) His own death record, listing his wife's name.
4) A marriage record which lists their marriage date as November 20, 1807, but given that their first known child was born 13 years later, I have an alternate date I found somewhere that lists their marriage date as 1817, which I am more inclined to believe. This may be a transcription error, but I am uncertain, as I unable to find the record of their actual marriage in the imaged document at Family Search.
5) I have four birth records for his children listing him.
6) I have also found one death record of a daughter who died shortly after she was born.
7) And I have three confirmation records for his children listing him.

Needed:

I still need a full birth and death date for him, and confirmation of when he and his wife were married. I would also like confirmation of the children I have listed for him. Anything on him, really. I have better proof than I originally did, but I still have a long way to go on him.


As always, if my family or anyone out there has any more information on this family, I'd love to talk to you about them. I'd love to learn more on any of them, if at all possible.

Original Post
Other Posts About Henrich:

Brick Wall People Redux – Part 16 – Else Katrine Ivarsdatter

No Known Photo

Name: Else Katrine Ivarsdatter
Birth: November 19, 1815 in Brande, Vejle, Denmark
Death: December 20, 1893 in Denmark
Marriage: April 18, 1835 in Ringive, Denmark
Location(s): Vejle, Denmark
Relation to me: Else is my father's mother's father's mother's mother's mother. Which makes her 7th generation before me.
Alias(es): None known at this time.
Parents: Iver Hansen & Kirsten Nielsdatter
Spouse(s): Christen Hansen
Children: Niels, Mette Marie, Hans Christian, Kirsten, Maren Kristine, Ivare Kirstine, Iver Vindbjerg, Else Marie, Mette Margrete (died young), Mette Margrete
Other Family: Hans Iversen, paternal grandfather; Else Nielsdatter, paternal grandmother; Niels Christensen, maternal grandfather; Else Pedersdatter, maternal grandmother; Else Johanne, sister; Niels, brother; Hans, brother; Else Kirstine, sister; Nicoline, sister; Nielsine Mette Kirstine, sister. Among many others in her extended family.

Details:

After writing the list of other family above, never have I more wanted to use the Scandinavian system of Farfar and Mormor. So much easier than that long explanation. But… as you can see, I have gotten very much further on Else's ancestral line since I wrote the original posts. I have actually gotten back to her grandparents, with more possible hints on Ancestry that I have not yet looked into, which means she is another success story.

Else has been on my family tree with her husband from the beginning. She was added to the tree by my grandmother's cousin, who was her father's aunt's daughter on this side of the family. But thanks to Ancestry, I have now gotten two more generations back.

Proof:
1) The only proof I had of Else is the information given to us by our distant cousin, who would have been her great granddaughter. Aside from that, I had no other information on her.

New Proof of Else:
2) I now have her confirmation, which lists her birthdate, as well as the names of her parents.
3) I have her in several Census records: 1834 with her parents and siblings; and 1840, 1845, 1850, 1870, 1880, and 1890 with her husband.
4) Her marriage record to Christen in 1835.
5) Birth records for eight of her ten known children.
6) Confirmation records for six of her ten known children.

Needed:

I now have all three of the big three records on Else, as well as a fairly good list of her children, and connections to her parents. Because I've gotten so far in her tree, I think she can wait now to do more. That makes her my fourth success story out of sixteen so far. Not bad, actually.


As always, if my family or anyone out there has any more information on this family, I'd love to talk to you about them. I'd love to learn more on any of them, if at all possible.

Original Post

Other Posts About Else:

Brick Wall People Redux – Part 15 – Christen Hansen

No Known Photo

Name: Christen Hansen
Birth: February 19, 1809 in Ringive, Vejle, Denmark
Death: May 25, 1890 in Ringive, Vejle, Denmark
Marriage: April 18, 1835 in Ringive, Vejle, Denmark
Location(s): Vejle, Denmark
Relation to me: Christen Hansen was my father's mother's father's mother's mother's father. Which makes him 7th generation before me.
Alias(es): Kresten Christensen until recently, but now he is listed as Christen Hansen on my tree. I'm not sure which is more accurate.
Parents: Hans Christian Hansen & Mette Marie Nielsdatter
Spouse(s): Else Katrine Ivarsdatter
Children: Niels, Mette M, Hans Christian, Maren Kristine, Ivare Kristine, Iver, Else M, Mette Magrete
Other Family: None Known

Details:
As you can see, the name on this post has changed from when I made the original, Kresten Christensen to Christian Hansen. He has been on my family tree from the beginning and was added to the tree by my grandmother's cousin, who was her father's aunt's daughter on this side of the family, which is probably why I have the name issue there that I do. I had a similar issue on the other side of this family, so I'm not surprised that happened.

Because of that issue, I had no idea where to start looking, but as you will see, I have gotten further, at least. Unfortunately, I've only managed to get the names of his parents, and nothing more, not even any siblings. I presume his family were likely farmers, and therefore there are likely few records on them. Luckily, I have found a great deal on Family Search, but I will keep looking, as I would like to get further back.

Proof:
1) The only proof I have of Christen is the information given to us by our distant cousin, who would have been his great granddaughter. Aside from that, I have no other information on him.

New Proof of Christen:
2) The first new proof I have of Christen Hansen, and one that gives me both a general birthdate and also his parent's names, is his confirmation record in 1823, which makes his birthdate about 1809, as he was listed as 14 at the time.
3) The next is his marriage record in 1835 to Else.
4) Then I have records of their childrens' births and confirmations, which more completely connects him to his wife.
5) Then I have found a few Census records for him and his family in 1840,1845, 1850, 1860, 1880, and 1890.

Needed:

I now have BMD information on Christen, but his death date doesn't have an absolute source, and the parents are still tentative as I have no siblings for him yet. His family with his wife is very firm, however, because of the census, birth, and confirmation records I have for them all. He seems to have lived in Vejle his whole life.

I do call him a near miss as to have gotten over his brick wall, but given how little information I have on his parents and none on his siblings, I'm still inclined to think I have some wrong information here, so I will keep looking for him.


As always, if my family or anyone out there has any more information on this family, I'd love to talk to you about them. I'd love to learn more on any of them, if at all possible.

Original Post
Other Posts About Christen Hansen:

Brick Wall People Redux – Part 14 – Lars Andersen

No Known Photo

Name: Lars Andersen
Birth: about 1794, Vejle, Denmark
Death: December 5, 1880
Marriage: March 26, 1820, Vejle, Denmark

Location(s): Give, Vejle, Denmark
Relation to me: Lars Andersen is my father's mother's father's mother's father's father. He is the 7th generation before me.
Alias(es): None known at this time.
Parents: Anders Johansen & Kirsten Larsdattter
Spouse(s): Birthe Marie Sorensen
Children: Anne, Anders, Anne, Berthel, Anders, Else Marie, Mette, Søren, Else Marie, Johannes, Christen, Peder, Søren Christen, Jørgen, Elias
Other Family: none known

Details:
Since finding Lars and his wife, I found a great deal about them on Family Search, though I still have almost nothing on Ancestry, despite looking. After many years of having them listed as Lars Christensen and Oertha (someone had made a B with a squished top part of the letter, so that when it was copied, it got cut off and the bottom of the B looked like an O, so that's how it's been written for years), having corrected names helped greatly. Now I just need to look for more Danish records on Ancestry, to fill out the family over there.

Proof:
1) As I said above, for many years, my only information was that his name was Lars Christensen, which is actually his son's wife's surname, so I think that's where that actually came from, but I could be wrong. The original information came from my grandmother's cousin, Tula, whose mother was Jørgen's daughter.
2) The next real info we got on Lars and his wife was from Jørgen's baptismal record. That gave me their names, though little else.
3) The last is both the most information and the least substantial, as I had no clue who had created the record, nor was I able to verify the records included outside of that record. The Family Search tree included children and dates, but little else, so my only true information comes from that baptismal record until I can find more.

New Proofs I have found of Lars:
4) I have found Birth records for several of Lars's children, listing him and his wife as their parents. Given the names, dates, and location, I am inclined to believe that these are his actual children.
5) I have also found several records for Lars's children's Confirmations, which has the same amount of information that matches.
6) I have found a few Census records listing the Lars Andersen family. There is the 1834 Census, which shows Lars & his wife and Lars's father Anders Johansen, a 24-year-old girl named Mette Marie, who may be his wife's sister, as they share a surname, and six of their children: Anders, Mette, Søren, Johannes, Christen, and Peder.
7) Then there is the 1840 Census, which shows Lars and his wife with Lars's father Anders Johansen, and eight of their children: Anders, Mette, Søren, Johannes, Christen, Peder, Søren Christian, and Jørgen.
8) And there is the 1870 Census, which shows Lars and his wife at the end of their lives, both above 70 years of age.

Needed:
As you can see, I have found his parents, and even a death date, so I consider this wall conquered, though I have no other siblings for him, which means that I do need to keep looking, though for now, I will move another generation back to his parents at this stage.

Original Post
Other Posts About Lars:

Brick Wall People Redux – Part 13 – Ellen Pugh (or possibly Griffiths)

Ellen & Hugh with their granddaughter, Eliza
Name: Ellen Pugh
Birth: About 1824 in Merionethshire, Wales
Death: after 1885
Marriage: before 1846
Location(s): Northern Wales
Relation to me: Ellen Pugh was my maternal grandmother's mother's maternal grandmother, which makes her 6th generation before me.
Alias(es): None known at this time.
Parents: unknown
Spouse(s): Hugh Roberts
Children: Selina, Elizabeth
Other Family: none known

Details: I know little about Ellen or her husband, aside from their names and the photo I have of them. We have a picture of her holding one of his daughter's children. We believe it is our great-grandmother Eliza. Aside from that, I really know very little else about either of them. Their daughter was born in Northern Wales, which likely means they were from that area as well, but as I have no absolute information on their lives, I simply can't be sure.

Proof:
1) Ellen has been in my family tree from the first, which was pieced together with the help of my grandmother, her uncle Ted, and my father. None of whom knew her, unfortunately, which makes the information on her sketchy at best.
2) Then there is the photograph of Hugh, Ellen and the child we believe to be Eliza back in Wales. I am uncertain of the actual date of the photo, but fairly certain of the two Robertses's identities.
3) However, my best proof of her identity and her surname as Pugh is their daughter's death record. It is there she is listed as Ellen Pugh, which is a slightly more valid proof than from family stories, where I had always heard her referred to as Griffiths.

New Proofs I have found of Ellen:
4) As with Hugh, she is listed in the 1851 census with their two listed daughters, Selina and Elizabeth.

Needed:

As with Hugh, she is also listed in the 1891 census with another girl, if I have found them, but I have no other records listing other children, so at this time, I can't be sure this is the same family, given the commonness of their names. Like many of my other brick walls, I have almost no BMD info for her aside from a birth year. As I said above, I know she was alive around the 1880s, but I have no clue when she might have died. I would love to know the names of her parents, and if she had siblings, and where she was born. I would also love to know when and where she married Hugh, and whether or not they had any other children beyond Selina and Elizabeth.

As always, if my family or anyone out there has any more information on this family, I'd love to talk to you about them. I'd love to learn more on any of them, if at all possible.

Original Post
Other Posts about Ellen Pugh:

Brick Wall People Redux – Part 12 – Hugh Roberts

Ellen and Hugh Roberts, and their granddaughter Eliza

Name: Hugh Roberts
Birth: About 1819
Death: after 1885
Marriage: before 1846
Location(s): Northern Wales
Relation to me: Hugh Roberts was my maternal grandmother's mother's maternal grandfather, which makes him 6th generation before me.
Alias(es): None known at this time.
Parents: unknown
Spouse(s): Ellen Pugh (or possibly Griffiths)
Children: Selina, Elizabeth
Other Family: none known

Details: Hugh Roberts is one of the oldest people in my family tree that I actually have a photo of. I assume he was born sometime in the early 1800s, and we have a picture of him holding one of his daughter's children. We believe it is our great-grandmother Eliza. Aside from that, I really know very little else about him. His daughter was born in Northern Wales, which likely means he was from that area as well, but as I have no absolute information on him, I simply can't be sure.

Proof:
1) Hugh Roberts has been in my family tree from the time I initially put it together, which was pieced together with the help of my grandmother, her uncle Ted, and my father. None of whom knew the man, unfortunately, which makes the information sketchy at best.
2) Then there is the photograph of Hugh, Ellen and the child we believe to be Eliza back in Wales. I am uncertain of the actual date of the photo, but fairly certain of the two Robertses's identities.
3) However, my best proof of his identity is his daughter's death record. It is there he is listed by name, which is a slightly more valid proof than from family stories, where his name might have been mistaken over the century since his death.

New Proofs I have found of Hugh:
4) I found an 1851 Census record listing Hugh, his wife, and two daughters, one of whom was my great-great grandmother Selina, which makes me believe this is them, given the fact that the name was not all that common, especially given it was in the right general area.

Needed:

I have two pieces of possible proof as well, but I am uncertain if they are him, as they do not meet my standard of evidence, which is that they need to hit at least three pieces of evidence I already have on them. The first is a baptism record, which lists his birthdate as August 22, 1819 in northern Wales. It absolutely matches his name, birthyear and general location, but given that I only have a year, and that based on a Census record, and only know for certain he was from in or around the Dolgelly area in Northern Wales when his daughter was born, the record isn't enough to be sure it's him, given that Hugh Roberts would be like finding a Michael Smith. The other is a record in the 1891 Census with a Hugh & Ellen Roberts, and a third daughter, but again, it's not enough to be certain this is my family. Yet. I keep looking, though.

I still don't have great BMD info for him, just a year of birth. As I said above, I know he was alive around the 1880s, but I have no clue when he might have died beyond that. I would love to know the names of his parents, and if he had siblings, and where he was born. I would also love to know when he and Ellen were married, and what children they had aside from Selina and Elizabeth, if any, and particularly, I would like to prove or disprove this third daughter, whose name is Louisa Anne.


As always, if my family or anyone out there has any more information on this family, I'd love to talk to you about them. I'd love to learn more on any of them, if at all possible.

Original Post
Other Posts About Hugh Roberts:

Brick Wall People Redux – Part 11 – ? Dunlop

No Known Photo

Name: ? Dunlop
Birth: unknown
Death: unknown
Marriage: unknown
Location(s): Ireland
Relation to me: Miss Dunlop was my maternal grandfather's mother's paternal grandmother, which makes her 6th generation before me.
Alias(es): None known at this time.
Parents: unknown

Spouse(s): John Park
Children: Robert James Park
Other Family: none known

Details: Like John Park, I have made no more movement on Miss Dunlop. I am currently unaware of much else about her, though I do speculate that my great-grandmother Mary Dunlop Park might have been named for her, which would make her name Mary, but as of yet, I have no proof of this, so it is only speculation at this time.

Proof:
1) My only true proof of Miss Dunlop's existence is her son's death record in Vancouver, BC.
2) However, unlike her husband, I do have a secondary source for her family name. Even before finding Robert's death record, I had speculated that I would find Dunlop as a surname on one side or the other of this branch, as both my great-grandmother and her younger brother's middle names are Dunlop.

Needed:

As you can see, there has been no change on this branch at all. Every other wall on this generation, I've found at least a few more proofs of the ancestor, but with these two, Robert's death record is still the only piece of proof I have they even existed.

I still have absolutely no BMD info for her but I am at least sure she was alive in 1851, as that is about when her son was born. I also know she was in Ireland at the time, whether or not she was born there, as he is listed as having been born in Antrim, or possibly Ballymena according to one census record I have for her son, which lists his birthplace as there. Beyond that, I know absolutely nothing about her. I do hope to find more records on her, but without a first name, I've almost nothing to go on, and her husband's name is nearly as useless, as John is literally the most common name in the British Isles. All I can do at this time is to keep looking and hope that I find more. At this point, I'm really mostly desperate to know her name, whether it was Mary or something else entirely.

If my family or anyone out there has any more information on this family, I'd love to talk to you about them. I'd love to learn more on any of them, if at all possible.

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Brick Wall People Redux – Part 10 – John Park

No Photo

Name: John Park
Birth: unknown
Death: unknown
Marriage: unknown
Location(s): Ireland
Relation to me: John Park was my maternal grandfather's mother's paternal grandfather, which makes him 6th generation before me.
Alias(es): None known at this time.
Parents: unknown

Spouse(s): ? Dunlop
Children: Robert James Park
Other Family: none known

Details: I have almost no information on him, and even less on his wife. According to my great-great grandfather's entry on a Northern Irish census before the family moved to Canada, he was born in Antrim in Northern Ireland, so I could assume that that is where they lived, but as of this moment, I certainly can't assume John was ever there, because there's no way of telling where he was or even if he was alive when his son was born. So all I know is that he was Irish and has a rather Scottish/English surname.

Proof:
1) My only current proof of John's existence is his son's death record in Vancouver, BC. At this time, all I have for him is a name, and his wife's surname, and where his son was born (from another bit of proof, but since John's not mentioned on it, I won't use it as proof for him at this time). Unfortunately, John Park is all too common a name. All I can do is hope to eventually find more about him.

Needed:

As you can see, there has been no change on this branch at all. Every other wall on this generation, I've found at least a few more proofs of the ancestor, but with John and his wife, Robert's death record is still the only piece of proof I have they even existed.

I still have absolutely no BMD info for John, and only a vague notion that he was alive in 1850 or 1851, as that is about when his son was born. Irish records are far more spotty for that sort of information, especially when the family is Protestant, which mine was. At this time, all I can think of to do is keep trying when I find new sources on his son, and hope that more information will reveal itself.

If my family or anyone out there has any more information on his family, I'd love to talk to you about him. I'd love to learn more if at all possible.

Original Post
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Brick Wall People Redux – Part 9 – Ole Larsen

No Known Photo

Name: Ole Larsen
Birth: my records list his birthdate as about 1812.
Death: Sometime around or just before 1900, I believe.
Marriage: April 21, 1851 in Slots-Bjergby, Denmark.
Location(s): Slots-Bjergby, DenmarkMinnesota, USA
Relation to me: Ole Larsen was my paternal grandmother's mother's mother's father, which makes him 6th generation before me.
Alias(es): None known at this time.
Parents: unknown
Spouse(s): Birthe Marie Schrøder
Children: Lars Christian, Maren Sofie
Other Family: Oscar and Tena, grandchildren

Details: Ole is a little odd, as I know a lot and at the same time very little about him. I have both his wedding record to his wife and his daughter's birth record, and know that he came here to the states about the time his daughter was born. I know that he had a farm here in Minnesota, and that he had a son and a two grandchildren here in the states, and that their branch ended with them, at least according to my great-great uncle, Hans.

Unlike the story I told in his first entry, it seems his story is quite different from what I thought. Originally, I thought that Ole came to the US after his daughter was born, and left behind his wife and child. But then I came across a record for another child by his wife, a son, who I then discovered came to the US as well. So now, until I am certain, I have two possible stories: the first is that he came to the states to prepare a home for his family, and while he was gone, his wife died, so he came to retrieve his son, but his daughter was left behind for whatever reason. OR he left with his son after her death, and left his daughter behind. Either way, it was not a good story for his daughter. There is a family story that says he sent her a vase, and that has been passed around by her descendants in Denmark as a sort of bad taste family joke.

The people I'd learned of from my great-great uncle's interview by my grandmother and her siblings made me misunderstand his relationship to Oscar and Tena, but after finding their father, and realizing who he was, I now have Oscar and Tena in the right place in my family tree. I still don't know anything about Ole's parents and possible siblings, though, and I still don't have dates for his birth or death as of yet, so I still have a long way to go. I'd love to know more about his story, and where exactly he lived in Minnesota.

Proof:
1) My initial proof for Lars comes from his wedding record to Birthe in 1851. It gives no parents, unfortunately.
2) My next is from their daughter's baptism record in 1855. It doesn't prove he was in Denmark at that point, but it at least confirms he is Maren Sofie's father.
3) The next bit of info is an interview with my great-great uncle Hans, in which he mentions him once or twice, mostly about how he went to his farm after coming to the US.
4) And the last bit is in a few letters between my grandmother and her sister about the Hansen family, one of which specifically mentions his desertion of his wife and daughter, though it makes no mention of her other two daughters from a previous marriage, so I'm not sure if they knew about them.

New Proofs I have found of Ole:
5) The birth record of his son, Lars Christian Olsen in 1852 in Denmark.
6) We have found a census record for Ole that lists him with his wife, her two daughters from her first marriage, and their son Christian, in 1855.
7) Then I have a birth record for Maren Sofie in 1855 listing both her parents.
8) There is also a record of a stillbirth in late 1857, only four months before Birthe Marie died. So either she died due to complications, or that loss left her so devastated, she killed herself. Which would make sense why Ole would leave the country after that. Though it still doesn't explain why he would leave his daughter behind.
9) The death record for Birthe Marie in 1858.
10) I also have a confirmation record for Christian in 1866 which lists both Ole & Birthe Marie, which has Christian in Denmark still.
11) Then I have a record of Ole in the Lutheran Church in America that records his son's marriage in 1877, and lists him as well as his deceased wife.
12) There is also Maren Sofie's Confirmation record which lists both her parents in 1869.

Needed:
I have gotten no further with birth or death dates for Ole, but I have been working on it, as has my father's cousin who lives in Minnesota, so hopefully someday we will find more. I still don't know exactly when he first came to the states, and will have to continue to look for him in US Censuses, especially now that I know his son was here in the states as well, at the latest in 1877. I'd still love to know the names of his parents and any other siblings he might have had.

If my family or anyone out there has any more information on his family, I'd love to talk to you about him. I'd love to learn more if at all possible.

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Brick Wall People Redux – Part 8 – Maren Rasmussen (Rasmusdatter)

No Known Photo

Name: Maren Rasmussen
Birth: September 18, 1817 in Alsted, Denmark.
Death: Sometime after 1880, which was the last census I have been able to find her in.
Marriage: before 1841, which is about when their first child was born.
Location(s): Alsted, Denmark
Relation to me: Maren Rasmussen is my paternal grandmother's mother's father's mother, which makes her 6th generation before me.
Alias(es): None known at this time.
Parents: Rasmus Troelsen & Lisbet Nielsdatter

Spouse(s): Hans Nielsen
Children: Hanne, Sophie, Ole, Niels, Maren, Rasmus, Jorgen, Niels, Anders, Jens, Ane Lisbeth
Other Family: Siblings: Mathias, Jens, Truels, Bodil, Niels, Hans; grandfather: Neils Pedersen

Details: I know a great deal more about Maren now, like her husband, though in her case, all her information is from Family Search. I haven't done much of my own looking into her because of this, and will have to look into her information more deeply, as before this all I was certain of was from her son's birth records and the Census records I found on this family in the Danish Census records. Until I've looked into her more, I will have to hold judgement, but right now, she's got a lot more information than I had before.

Proof:
1) My initial proof for Maren came from Rasmus's birth record found at Family Search, but I was unable to confirm it until I had found several of the Census records I now have.
2) My major proof for both Maren and her husband, as well as much of the rest of this branch of the family, comes from Census records, starting in 1850, and going through to the 1880 Danish Census. After that, I have no records of this family at all aside from Rasmus and his family.

New Proofs I have found of Maren:
3) I now have a birth record that lists a birthdate and parents, which is in the right location.
4) I have a birth record for several of her sons, which lists her and her husband.
5) I also have her son Rasmus's confirmation record, which also lists her and her husband.

Needed:

I have no exact death information yet for Maren, and I'm not 100% sure of what is on Family Search, but given what I do have, I'm about 75% sure of her parents, at least. I will have to dig through the proof on the site at some point, as I think there are some records there that don't belong to her, but given that her tree goes back before her parents a little now, I think she can be put on the back burner.

That said, if my family or anyone out there has any more information on this family, I'd love to talk to you about it. I'd love to learn more.

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Brick Wall People Redux – Part 7 – Hans Nielsen

No Known Photo

Name: Hans Nielsen
Birth: March 9, 1816 in Knudstrup, Denmark.
Death: March 10, 1893, Sorø, Denmark
Marriage: 1844
Location(s): Alsted, Denmark
Relation to me: Hans Nielsen is my paternal grandmother's mother's father's father, which makes him 6th generation before me.
Alias(es): None known at this time.
Parents: Niels Andersen & Ane Marie Rasmussen
Spouse(s): Maren Rasmussen
Children: Hanne, Sophie, Ole, Niels, Maren, Rasmus, Jorgen, Niels, Anders, Jens, Ane Lisbeth
Other Family: Siblings: Kirsten, Anders, Maren, Jorgen, Christian, Christiane, Inger, & Catherine; Anders Hansen & Inger Jensen and Rasmus Rasmusen Ibsen & Sidse Nielsdatter, grandparents.

Details: As you can see if you read the original entry, my knowledge of Hans has grown by leaps and bounds. Not only does he have parents, but he has grandparents, and even great grandparents, siblings, aunts and uncles, and so much more. I still have limited records on him, but what I do know goes so much further back in time. The Census records I have found on this family gave me much of the information I now have. It looks as though he was farming the land that my great-great grandfather eventually took over and ran until his death shortly before 1900. He seems to have handed off the farm to Rasmus before his death, as he and his wife are listed on one Census as the "elder farmer" (for lack of a better term), and on another all on their own.

Proof:
1) My initial proof for Hans came from Rasmus's birth record found at Family Search, but I was unable to confirm it until I had found several of the Census records I now have.
2) My major proof for both Hans and his wife, as well as much of the rest of this branch of the family, comes from Census records, starting in 1850, and going through to the 1880 Danish Census. After that, I have no records of this family at all aside from Rasmus and his family.

New Proofs I have found of Hans:
1) I have a birth record for him listing his parents, which confirms his birthdate at March 9, 1816.
2) I also have his confirmation record in 1830, which also lists his parents.
3) And I have his wedding record, listing his wedding date to Maren as December 15, 1843.
4) I now have a marriage record for one of his daughters that lists him as her father.
5) I have a conformation record for Rasmus Hansen, which lists his parents.
6) I have several birth records for his children.
7) And also some confirmation records for one of his children.

Needed:
This isn't a detailed listing of all the information I have on Hans, but as you can see, his line goes back far enough, and the information I have on him is detailed enough that I really have no need to focus on him anymore. At least not for a while. So here's to success story number two.

Original Post
I don't have any major other posts about Hans Nielsen, but any posts about his son (Rasmus Hansen) and granddaughter (Oline Hansen) are easily searchable on this blog.

Brick Wall People Redux – Part 6 – Hannah Griffiths

Hannah Griffiths ca 1926 with her daughter
in law, both daughters, and two grandsons
Name: Hannah Griffiths
Birth: 1844, Newcastle Emlyn, Wales
Death: 1933, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales
Marriage: before 1866, in Wales
Location(s): Newcastle Emlyn, Wales; Merthyr Tydfil, Wales
Relation to me: Hanna Griffiths is my maternal grandmother's paternal grandmother, which makes her 5th generation before me.
Alias(es): None known at this time.
Parents: Thomas Griffiths & Frances Bowen
Spouse(s): Benjamin Jones
Children: John, Joseph, Daniel, David, William, May, Sophia
Other Family: Siblings: David, John, Mary, Elizabeth, Anne, Margaret, Jane, and Frances; William Bowen & Margaret (no surname known), grandparents.

Details: Like Benjamin, the majority of information I have on Hannah comes from my grandmother. She was lucky enough to travel to Wales with her family once before her grandmother's death, and told me often about meeting her and being allowed to sleep with her in her bed during that visit. I only know a slight bit more about her than I do about her husband, though I have a great deal more pictures of her. As I said, she continued to run the Post Office in Merthyr Tydfil after her husband's death. I also know she blamed herself for her son Davey's death, as he ran into a lake to catch her hat one day when he was still recovering from a cold or the flu, and fell sick with pneumonia, and died.

I now have a much more precise list of her children, though their ages are still not perfect, I think. Other than that, I know little about her, and would love to learn how she came to Merthyr Tydfil from Newcastle Emlyn.

Proof:
1) Like Benjamin, all my details on Hannah in my family tree came from my grandmother, and through her father. Beyond that, I had no specific proof for many years.
2) My first actual proof came from the record of my great-grandfather's death on Family Search, which lists Hannah as his mother. I assume this came from my grandmother or one of her siblings, as with Benjamin.
3) Like I said above, we have many photos of Hannah, both from her life in Wales after Daniel's departure, as well as his visit back with his family.
4) And I also have the stories I mentioned from my grandmother about her visit. There are not many of them, but there are a few that I do recall.

New Proofs I have found of Hannah:
5) Like Benjamin, I have many Census records listing her. The first is the 1851 Census, with her parents and siblings.
6) The 1861 Census lists her with her mother Frances and her sister, Frances and a niece, Naomi.
7) She's then listed in the 1871 with her husband and eldest two sons, John and Joseph.
8) The 1881 lists her and Benjamin with their eldest three sons, David, Joseph, and John.
9) The 1891 has six of their seven children listed: David, John, Daniel, William, Mary, and Sarah.
10) And the 1901 lists six again: Joseph, John, Daniel, William, Mary, and Sarah.
11) Then she is listed in her son Daniel's Wedding record.
12) And also in Daniel's death record.

Needed:
I have more precise BMD information for Hannah than for her husband, though I still need their wedding record. It would be nice to have more exact information for her birth and death info as well. I need to sort through the census records and get her kids' ages sorted out, but that will come with time.

But overall? Hannah's my first success story, as far as I'm concerned. I now have both her parents' names, and also the names of her siblings, and all her children sorted, I believe. So I'm actually quite happy with my knowledge about her now. Which means that she's no longer a brick wall. I'll be jumping another generation back to continue this family line.

Original Post
Other Posts about Hannah Griffiths:

Brick Wall People Redux – Part 5 – Benjamin Jones

Benjamin with his wife (standing) and daughters May and Sophia


Name: Benjamin Jones
Birth: December 24, 1836 in Caio, Wales.
Death: before 1915, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales
Marriage: before 1882, in Wales
Location(s): Caio, Wales; Merthyr Tydfil, Wales
Relation to me: Benjamin Jones is my maternal grandmother's paternal grandfather, which makes him 5th generation before me.
Alias(es): None known at this time.
Parents: David Jones & Mary, whose surname is unknown at this time.
Spouse(s): Hannah Griffith
Children: John, Joseph, David, Daniel, William, May, Sophia
Other Family: Joseph Jones, brother

Details: Ben is the first of the people on my original list that I've gotten another generation back on his tree. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten far back enough to really call this a complete success. I know his parents' names, but nothing more about them, and in his mother's case, I don't have a maiden name. The majority of information I had on Benjamin before came from my grandmother, only knew of him from her father, as he died before she was born. I do know that he and his wife apparently ran the post office in Merthyr Tydfil, and that Hannah continued to run it even after his death. I have now found several Census records for he and his family, which helped a lot in sorting out the family members, but still left a lot of questions.

Aside from what I already knew, and what I've found in the census records, I really know nothing about this man. I don't know how he moved from Caio to Merthyr Tydfil, or when and where he married his wife, or if he always worked in the post office, or anything else.

Proof:
1) All my details on Benjamin in my family tree came from my grandmother, and through her father. Beyond that, I had no specific proof for many years.
2) My first actual proof came from the record of my great-grandfather's death on Family Search, which lists Benjamin as his father. I assume this came from my grandmother or one of her siblings, but it at least is a more concrete proof of Benjamin's existence than the family tree I had.
3) The last piece of proof I have is from family photos dating to around the turn of the century, one of which shows Benjamin with his wife and daughters. I do not believe we have any other shots of him, but it is lovely to have the one we do have.

New Proofs I have found of Benjamin:
4) I found a baptism record for him with his parents' names, which confirms his birthdate as December 24th 1836.
5) I also have several Census forms listing him. The first is the 1871 Census, where he is shown with his wife and their eldest two sons, John and Joseph. This one was taken in Merthyr Tydfil, so I know he was there by then, at the very latest.
6) I have a second 1871 record that if it correct, shows him in the household of a Joseph Jones. Given he had a son named Joseph, and this record also lists a mother for both named Mary. It's possible with the commonness of the names, this is not a correct record, but until I know for certain otherwise, I will assume he was visiting the day the Census taker came to his brother's house.
7) The 1881 Census lists him as a Grocer, and their family has grown to three sons: David James, Joseph, and John Joseph. They also have a servant living with them.
8) The 1891 Census they have six children listed: David J, John J, Daniel T (my great-grandfather), William N, Mary A, and Sarah S.
9) The same six children are listed in the 1901 Census, with no further additions.
10) I also found that he is listed on the wedding record for his son Daniel.
11) He is also listed on Daniel's death record.

Needed:
The censuses tell me there were seven children, if I understand them correctly. And the second 1871 Census is less certain, but with the names, I have to believe that is also him.

I have an exact birth record for Benjamin, but I don't have his marriage or death information as of yet. I know I could pay for it, as it should be available on the UK BMD records website, along with marriage information for he and Hannah. This is obviously my next step for this branch, but given how much I've found on Ancestry, I will continue to look there first. I'd love to know more about his life, especially life before Merthyr Tydfil, and about his parents, how many siblings he might have had, and how he met Hannah.


At that's what I have on Benjamin. Though I've found his parents' names, I still don't have his mother's maiden name, so until I do, I'm not going to consider this brick wall solved. If you're a member of the Jones family who knows more about him, I'd love to hear the stories you have, and I'd love to share what I have as well. Please feel free to contact me.

Original Post
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Brick Wall People Redux – Part 4 – Feige Golda Reich


Name: Feige Golda Riech
Birth: about 1868
Death: November 26, 1932
Marriage: Before 1890
Location(s): Czudek, Galicia (Poland); Frankfurt, Germany
Relation to me: Feige Golda Reich is my paternal grandfather's maternal grandmother, which makes her 5th generation before me.
Alias(es): none known
Parents: unknown
Spouse(s): Benzion Kresch
Children: Naftali Mendel, Dora, Minna, Hiam (uncertain of the spelling at this time), Esther/Erna, Aaron
Other Family: No other direct family known.

Details:
I have a bit more about Feige than I did the last time I posted these. For once, I actually have a death record for her. Other than that, though, I have no Birth or Marriage information on her aside from what I have gotten from family, so those dates for her are vague at best. I do know she lived a good deal of her life in Czudek, and raised her children there, then moved to Frankfurt after her husband's death. I also know that she lived until the early thirties. But other than raising possibly five children in a small town in Galicia, I know very little else about her life.

Proof:
1) Like the rest of my Jewish great-grandparents, I got all my information on Feige from my grandfather. Up until my sister and I started a book about our family, this was most of the information I had on her.
2) As stated above, I also have one photo of her with a note on the back from my great grandmother stating that this was her mother during her time in Frankfurt, and that she died sometime in the late twenties.
3) Like Benzion, she is also mentioned in the Hillinger Family book. It mentions Benzion was a teacher, and at least two place names: Czudek and Czendei in Galicia. Unfortunately, I don't know where Czendei might be, but I have at least found Czudek on a map.
4) She is also listed on her son's immigration record to Brazil. She is only mentioned on it, but it gives Mendel's birth as Czudek, so that is confirmed, at least.
5) My last piece of information is the wedding invitation in the Hillinger family book. It lists her as inviting people to attend her daughter's wedding. She and Leon are the two parents on the invitation, so that has led me to assume that they were the only parents the couple had alive at the time.

New Proofs I have found of Feige:
6) I now have the death record for Feige. It is in German, but after going through it, I am fairly certain it doesn't list parents or a birthplace. Still, it gives me an absolute date and location for her death.
7) She also appears on the record for her son Mendel's wedding.
8) And she is listed on her daughter Dora's Social Security record.
9) She is also listed on Mendel's Brazilian Immigration record.
10) The last record I have for her is that she is listed on Dora's death record.

Needed:
Except for her death record, I have almost no great new records for Feige. Aside from her death record, I still need her birth and marriage dates, as I can only speculate at those dates at this moment. I have no clue where to even start looking for information for her, as most of the paperwork recording her life events was likely destroyed by the Nazis. If there were any records for her in Czudek, those are likely long gone, too.

Like with Benzion, I would also love better records about her children. I am lucky to have what I do, but I would love to know more, despite the difficulties that finding such records will cause. I would love to learn about her family as well; parents, siblings, and ancestors. I speculate that she was born in Czudek, as most people didn't travel far from home, especially women at that time and in that area. They tended to move in family groups or not at all. But unless I find records, I am unlikely to find out more.


That's everything I have. I'd love to know more about her, especially about her ancestors, but I am pleased with the small amount of new information I have found for her. As always, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Original Post
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Brick Wall People Redux – Part 3 – Benzion Kresch

No Known Photo

Name: Benzion Kresch
Birth: unknown
Death: before 1919
Marriage: Before 1890
Location(s): Czudek, Galicia (Poland); Czendei, Galicia (Poland) (location not found)
Relation to me: Benzion Kresch is my paternal grandfather's maternal grandfather, which makes him 5th generation before me.
Alias(es): none known
Parents: unknown
Spouse(s): Feige Golda Reich
Children: Naftali Mendel, Dora, Minna, Hiam (uncertain of the spelling at this time), Esther/Erna, Aaron
Other Family: No other direct family known.

Details:

I know very little about Benzion. He lived and died in Galicia, and made a living as a teacher of some sort, but I do not know what sort of teacher. He and his wife likely lived in Czudek most of their married lives, as I know at least two of their children were born there. They had five children, and I now know all their names, if not the full details of their lives.. As for his death, I found a report on Jewish Gen about an attack on the town shortly before his daughter left for Frankfurt, so it is possible he may have died in that attack, or because of it.

Other than that, I know nothing about the man, other than my great grandmother named her eldest child for him.

Proof:
1) Like the other branch of my Jewish heritage, I got all my information originally from my grandfather, who never met his grandparents except for his grandmother Feige. Up until recently, that information was all I had on Benzion.
2) Benzion is also in the Hillinger Family book. It mentions Benzion was a teacher, and at least two place names: Czudek and Czendei in Galicia. Unfortunately, I don't know where Czendei might be, but I have at least found Czudek on a map.
3) The last bit of information I have on Benzion is one of the most recent records I have found: his son's immigration record to Brazil. He is only mentioned on it, but it gives Mendel's birth as Czudek, so that is confirmed, at least.

New Proofs I have found of Benzion:
4) I found a record for his son's marriage in 1919 that lists him and his wife. I don't believe this proves he was alive at the time. I think it is just listing them as his parents. I can't be certain, as it is in German, but it seems the most likely.
5) He is also listed in his daughter Dora's Social Security record.
6) And there is another listing of her on Dora's death record.
7) And one final record listing him is Mendel's immigration record to Brazil.
8) The final proof I have of him is actually the strongest. I was contacted by a woman who said she was his granddaughter, and therefore my grandfather's first cousin. She told me a little about what he was life, and gave me the names of all of his children, so I finally have all their names, though Haim vanished right after the First World War, so her father, who was the youngest, left her very little information about him.

Needed:
Like Alex's parents, I have no BMD information on Benzion, so I can only speculate at those dates. Unlike them, I don't even have speculations on dates. I have no clue where to even start looking for information on him, given he lived in Galicia around the time when Jews were under attack by the gentiles around them. Likely few records existed even before the Nazis came to power, and the ones that did likely didn't after their regime.

I would also love better records about his children. I was lucky enough to find Mendel, and I know a great deal about Dora's life, but Minna I have only a couple of photos and a story of how the two sisters came to Frankfurt together from Czudek. I have more information on his other children now, though still very little in comparison to Mendel and Dora. I do need to say that I discovered I was right to fear what I might find here, between Haim's disappearance after WWI, and the fact that we lost Esther. However, I am glad to say that out of my whole Jewish Branch of my family tree, the only person in my immediate ancestral family we lost to the Nazis was Esther, who did not manage to escape with her husband and children, though we do not know exactly what happened to her. She is listed on Yad Vaschem, in a record written up by her son.

I would love to know about his parents, siblings, and the people he came from. Was he an only child? Was his father a teacher too? What kind of life did they lead? I tend to speculate that he was from the vague Rzeszów area, just north of where Czudek is located in Poland, but as of yet, I have no real proof he was from Galicia at all, and he could have just settled there because Rzeszów was a center for Jewish learning at the time.


And really, for now, that's it. Despite almost tripling the number of records for Benzion, I still have so little about Benzion. Any help here finding more on him would be greatly appreciated.

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Brick Wall People Redux – Part 2 – Mindel Hilinger

No Known Photo

Name: Mindel Hilinger
Birth: about 1851, likely in Germany, Austria or Galicia
Death: 1913, London, England
Marriage: about 1871, probably in Galicia
Location(s): Galicia; London, England
Relation to me: Mindel Hilinger is my paternal grandfather's paternal grandmother, which makes her 5th generation before me.
Alias(es): According to the grave entry I found for her, it seems she may have gone by the name Minnie. But Mindel is a very Jewish name (I have the male version on the other side for one of my great-grandmother's brothers), and Hilinger/Hillinger (the English spelling) is very common in Austria, and there is a Jewish branch of that family, according to someone I spoke with on the Hillinger Name facebook page.
Parents: unknown
Spouse(s): Leon Seneft
Children: Isaac, Annie, Alex, Jennie, Jack
Other Family: A nephew Lewis, either her sister's son, or her husband's sister's son, as the young man's surname was Greenbaum.

Details: While I have a few details for Leon, I have even less on Mindel. But I do have more exact dates for her, unlike him. I am uncertain where she was born, but I do have a likely source of information for her birth and death dates, so I have that, at least. Unfortunately, beyond that, I have little else about her. I know that she came to London with her husband when he emigrated from Galicia, and that she died there, but beyond her having at least five children, I have almost nothing else about her.

I would probably know even less if it weren't for the fact that my great-grandfather, her son Alex, was forced to take her maiden name by the German government when he moved to Frankfurt after the war because they did not recognize Mindel and Leon's marriage because it was a religious ceremony. So since my great-grandfather, the family surname has been Hillinger (the English spelling) instead of Seneft.

There is one last possibility here that as of yet means nothing, but I suspect there may be a strain of Sephardic heritage on this branch of my family, as when I looked up the name Hilinger on a site that gives origins, the largest collection of people with that name spelling were all in northern Spain. It may mean nothing, but my initial Ancestry DNA test came back with some slight Iberian heritage. That has since vanished, but I still believe it could be a possibility, and this name of the four Jewish Surnames I have seems the most likely.

Proof:
1) Like Leon, Mindel has always been part of my family tree that was given to me by my grandfather. Unfortunately, aside from the name-change story, she was still just a name on a chart to me.
2) My second piece of proof on Mindel is in the letter my grandfather wrote to Belgium. She is mentioned even less than her husband, but she is mentioned, reinforcing the information I have from the family tree.
3) She is also mentioned in the Hillinger family book, though far more than her husband, given she is considered his only legal parent by the German government. She is not one of the entries in the book any more than her husband was, but it gives details of her life as reference for Alex.
4) The last piece of proof I have of Mindel's life is a gravestone marker for a Minnie Seneft. While not an exact match, I am fairly confident it is hers, because the writing on the stone says "Loving daughter Jennie," and is in a Hebrew cemetery. I think it likely that this is my Mindel, as it fits the other facts I have of her life.

New Proofs I have found of Mindel:
5) Mindel is listed on the same Census as Leon. She is listed as Millie, but I am fairly certain this is her. She's also listed as blind, which is very interesting, especially since she died around two years later, leading me to believe this may be complications of diabetes.
6) And also like Leon, she is listed on her son Alex's Social Security forms, once as Mena, and once with the name I know for her. Because her name is listed on one as Mindel, which seems a more formal name, this leads me to believe Leib is her husband's Hebrew name, as this is the only time I see him listed this way, with her formal name.
7) Again, like Leon, she is listed on her son Jacks' death record.

Needed:
While I have a vague birth and an exact death date for Mindel, I cannot be certain they are right until I receive more exact BMD information. The information from her grave seems right, but I've no other way to determine those dates, so they are still only tentative until I can find something more on her. I imagine her birth records are either non-existent or in Hebrew, but I keep looking. I also need to know her emigration information, just like Leon. I imagine those records must be somewhere, in England if nowhere else.

Beyond that, I have no clue where to even start looking for Mindel. I don't know if she worked or not. It seems unlikely, but then again, they were immigrants, so you never know. She did have five children, and I imagine most or all were quite young, so a job seems unlikely to me, but I'm not going to assume anything until I have more info.

But that means I still have nowhere to even start, really. I have no clue how long they lived in England, so I'm not even sure where to begin to look. I can look for a death certificate, but that might be in Hebrew, too. And who knows if anything else on her exists at all?


And that is all I have on Mindel. Again, if you've any information on her that is not listed here, please contact me. I'd love to get further on this branch of the family.

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Brick Wall People Redux – Part 1 – Leon Seneft

From the collection of S Smith


Name: Leon Seneft
Birth: between 1849 and 1854, likely in Germany or Galicia
Death: I believe September 1931, Stepney, London, England
Marriage: 1871, probably in Galicia
Location(s): Galicia; London, England
Relation to me: Leon Seneft is my paternal grandfather's paternal grandfather, which makes him 5th generation before me.
Alias(es): His first name I have also seen recorded as Leib, Lewis, and Louis. His surname, I have seen spelled as Senft and Senefft.
Leon seems quite unusual for a Jew, so I lean towards the probability that Leib was his Hebrew name.
Seneft also seems unusual for a Jewish family, though I know that in the mid 18th century, they began to force Jews German sunames, so the name, which is distinctly German (it means "mustard seller") may come from this period, which would have been Leon's father or grandfather's time. Which also means that he may have another, more Jewish surname. I believe they used a Patrnonymic system, but I do not know enough about it or about his family at the time to guess what that other surname may have been.
Parents: unknown
Children: Isaac, Annie, Alex, Jennie, Jack
Other Family: A nephew also named Lewis Greenbaum, so possibly his or his wife's a sister's son.

Details: Leon Seneft was a Rabbi at some point. I'm not sure if this was when the family was living in London, or before, or both. According to the 1911 UK Census, he and his wife had five children. I believe those children were all born before leaving Galicia and taking their family to settle in London. I have an address that puts him living in London's south-east side, south of the Thames, though I am uncertain how long he lived there. According to most records, it lists them at living in "Mile End Old Town," though I am uncertain how these two correlate, so I need to look and see if that address would have been in that area. He and his family lived in London until the war, when Alex was sent to Camp Douglas, and many of his children left the country, which saw them as enemies at the time because they were German. Leon and Isaac stayed in England after the war, and one of his daughters did return as well after her husband died, but the others left England and never returned.

Proof:
1) Leon has always been part of my family tree that was given to me by my grandfather. Though he never met the man, he knew of him, and had a few pictures of him while growing up.
2) My second piece of proof on Leon came from a letter my grandfather wrote to someone of the name Hillinger in Belgium, who was hoping our lines might be somehow connected. It only briefly mentions him, but reinforces the information I have from the family tree I got from him. In it, he mentions that he never met the man, as Leon died before he was born, which was in 1922, giving me the outside edge of his possible death date, though I no longer believe this to be accurate--see below.
3) The next is the Hillinger family book. With my grandmother's death, I received the Hillinger Family book my grandfather got from Germany to confirm his birth date for the US government, which contained information on all of his family, including both Alex and Dora's parents. Again, he is not one of the entries in the book, but it refers to him tangentially as Alex's father, though the information is minimal as the German government did not recognize his marriage to Mindel because it was a Jewish ceremony.
4) We also have a copy of Alex and Dora's wedding invitation from the Hillinger family book, which does mention Leon, and makes it clear that he was still alive in 1919 when they married in Frankfurt. Because he's listed on the invitation, I assume he was also in attendance at the wedding, though that is only speculation at this time. This also gives my specific proof of his name as Leon.
5) I also have an Ellis Island record for Jennie Seneft, one of his daughters. It lists him as her next of kin back in England, and gives his address at the time.

New Proofs I have found of Leon:
6) I have one Census record listing Leon. In it his name is listed as Lewis, which estimates his birth year as 1849. The family is listed as Lewis, "Millie," Jinny (Jenny), and Lewis Greenbaum, who is listed as his nephew. They are living in Stepney, London, in Mile End Old Town. The Census lists his occupation as a greengrocer hawker.
7) From Grumpy's letter above, I assumed Leon had died sometime between 1919 and 1922, but if I have found the right record, apparently he died in 1931. I found his death listed in the England & Wales Death Index, which lists him as dying in the third quarter of 1931 in Stepney, London, which is definitely the right area. His name is listed here as Louis, and his birthdate as about 1854.
8) Then I have two versions of their son Alex's SS Application in the US, which lists his parents as Lewis and Mena in one version, and Leib and Mindel in another. I assume one is the original application, and the other is his claim on that money.
9) I also have a record of his son Jack's death in New York that lists his parents as Louis and Minnie.
10) My final proof comes from a cousin who is descended from Leon's son Isaac. He gave me lots of information about him. Isaac was a tailor, and owned a clothing shop in London. From him, I get the spelling of Senefft for the family name, as well as conformation of Leon and Mindel's son's name, Isaac, who was previously unnamed for me. He also sent me a new picture of our mutual ancestor that was so reminiscent of my grandfather that I literally teared up when I saw it. So I now have two pictures of Leon. I've added both to this post just so you can see them both, and see what living in London probably did to the man.

Needed:
I have no absolute birthdate for Leon, and would love confirmation of his marriage and death. I imagine if those records exist in strong form, they're likely in Hebrew, if they weren't destroyed during the war. I also don't know when he emigrated to England from Galicia, though I know it was in the late 1800s, after my great-grandfather was born. I do know that his son served in the UK military in 1899, according to a record from his grandson, so I have an upper edge of how long they had been there, but they would have been arrived sometime between 1884 and 1899. I imagine those records must be somewhere, in England if nowhere else. I don't know if he was ever naturalized in England (was that even possible at the time?), but if he was, that may be a good place to look.

Complicating things is the information on his name above. Unfortunately for this time period, especially for immigrant Jews, variations on their names are common, so I will just have to be very careful to check each record, and make sure to use correlating information to verify what I find in the future.

I would love to determine whether Lewis Greenbaum is his biological nephew or his wife's, as this might give more information on another generation back on either side, but so far, this is the only listing I have found of him. He is listed as a tailor on the census form, which means he likely worked with his cousin Isaac, but beyond that, I know nothing about him.

I know he was a Rabbi from family stories, but have absolutely no idea where even to start looking for that kind of record, particularly something that might tell me when and where he was trained, and if he was a Rabbi his whole life, or where he would have practiced. I also don't know what synagogue he might have worked at (is that even the right phrasing?) or if there were more than one.

I do know that his wife died many years before him, as I believe I have found her gravestone, though it lists only her name and her daughter's, so I am not 100% sure. It does lead me to wonder why his name is not on the stone, and where he might be buried as well.

The last piece of information I am currently missing is about Camp Douglas. I know that Alex was sent there, but I am uncertain if he was the only one, if perhaps one or both of his brothers were sent with him, or if Leon or even the whole family were sent as well. I believe there was some sort of arrangement where so long as one member of the family went, the others could stay where they were, but it is possible that meant all the male members of the family had to go. I will need to write to the Red Cross to get this information. Hopefully they will have a bit more than just names for me when I do.


That is all I have on Leon Seneft. Obviously, what I know now has grown, but it is still not nearly enough, and hasn't gotten me any further back on this line. As always, if you have any information on this man not listed here, or if you can answer one of the questions I've listed, please contact me. I'd love to get further on this branch of the family.

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About this blog

This blog is maintained by two sisters who have had a life long interest in geneology.
Mika writes here mostly about our family (Hansen, Hillinger, Bordewick, Park, etc), and her search for more information.
Shannon mostly uses this space as a place to make the many stories written about and by her husband's family (Holly, Walker, Walpole, etc) available to the rest of the family, present and future.

Our blog is named Oh Spusch! mostly because Shannon is bad at naming things. The first post I put up includes a story about the time Walker's great grandfather took his whole family out to see a play and the littlest kept saying "Oh! Spusch!" No one ever figured out what she meant by that.