My Trails into the Past

A question that cannot be answered yet. I am not even sure it is a valid question. In my notes, my husband’s aunt, Ada Gorrell Thomason, wrote a note about her great-grandmother, Philippina Wollenweber. “She lived in Wertenberg [Württemberg], Germany.  Two lawyers came to see her in Jeffersonville [Indiana] about an estate in Germany.  She would not sign papers. no one knew why -- may have been cruel to her.  She made a fair living sewing for soldiers (navy blue flannel).” [ 1] Let’s break apart each of the facts as best we can. It is true that she was born in Württemberg, and it makes sense that Ada would spell the place phonetically. [2] Philippina lived in Jeffersonville from about 1870 to about 1907. [3] So, a lawyer coming to Jeffersonville makes sense. Lastly, the part about her sewing for soldiers can be broken down as well. Her occupation in 1900 was a seamstress. [4] There was a Quartermaster Depot in Jeffersonville that was active especially du...

Growing up, pancakes were a special Sunday morning treat. No homemade pancakes from scratch for us—not when Bisquick could do the trick. Mom used an electric griddle, making lots of pancakes at once. My favorite were the tiny pancakes made from the stray drips. I love anything miniature. A stack of hot cakes came with dabs of margarine between them, and homemade syrup from sugar and maple flavoring or imitation maple syrup from the store. We were too poor for real butter and maple syrup. Sometimes we had strawberry jam that hadn’t set well which made a good syrup substitute. With our own kids, we made pancakes from Bisquick but had real butter and maple syrup, though my youngest preferred powdered sugar on top instead. French Toast was preferred over pancakes and we used a recipe in the Cooks Illustrated cookbooks. Their paternal grandmother made Swedish pancakes, either the traditional dollar-sized ones from a special pan or larger ones from a crepe pan. She served them with but...

It is not often you learn about someone’s occupation from the person themselves. This happened to me this week in researching newspapers for articles about Ludwig Wilhelm (Louis W.) Wollenweber. I located an ad he put into a Cleveland, Ohio, newspaper weekly for nearly a year about his business. I learned quite a bit about his occupation and what his business did from the ad. [1] “Wollenweber’s New Bakery and Confectionery,”  Cleveland Daily Express , 5 Jul 1854, p. 4, col. 1. There are lots of clues in this ad. I have the name of the establishment: Wollenweber’s New Bakery and Confectionary. Its location is on Pearl Street in Cleveland, opposite H. Stone’s residence. I checked out Pearl Street on a map, and it is a long street, so that wasn’t helpful. In 1850, he was enumerated in the third ward, which if his establishment was close to his residence, that might help. [2] Unfortunately, the census does not provide addresses. The 1850 census did not have any candidates for H. Stone...

Muriel Martha Gilbert, the only daughter of Mary Martha Gleeson and Warren Edmond Gilbert, was born on 19 October 1895 in San Francisco, California. [1] She died 11 May 1956 in Los Angeles, and is buried at Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles. [2] She lived with her parents her whole life and never married. I have a photo of her, her parents, my grandmother, my aunt, Lorene, and my grandmother's father, taken in 1923/24. My grandmother and Muriel were first cousins.  Warren, Mary Martha, Anna Hork, Lorene Hork, Muriel, John H. Sullivan In 1915, the family moved to Elsinore Valley, where her father was involved in real estate. She offered herself as a teacher of the piano by placing an ad in the paper. [3] She taught beginners as well as more advanced students, using Mrs. Crosby Adams method. [4] Juliette Graves Adams and her husband Crosby Adams established the Crosby Adams School in Chicago which included teacher-training in public school music, and also offered programs in instr...

Lydia M. Polly was the mother of Martha Jane Polly Lancaster, who was married to George Wilson Lancaster, one of the focus ancestors of my 12 for ’26 in March. She is my 4x-great-grandmother and I do not know her maiden name. Working backwards, I have information about her from her tombstone, death certificate, and six census records from 1850 to 1910. I have no idea when she married Nathaniel H. O. Polly, though sometime around 1847. Let’s revisit the documents I have. This is often a way to find a flaw in the research or the thinking at the time I collected the documents. Maybe I will get a clue to investigate further. Death & Burial Records I have visited the Rockwall Memorial Cemetery where she is buried. Her stone, in the old section of the cemetery, is old with lichen, but readable. Her husband’s stone is newer and someone likely had it replaced. The stone reads: “L. M. POLLY Born Feb 24, 1828 Died Mar 27, 1912 Thy trials ended thy rest is won. God was thy ransom, t...

Mom made many of our clothes: dresses, jumpers, shorts, and pajamas. The only clothes she did not make were jeans, coats, uniforms, and items for the boys, though she once made matching outfits for the four oldest children.  She barely used patterns to make our clothes. Yes, she cut out the pattern pieces. She placed them carefully on the fabric and pinned them down before cutting. But I doubt she really read the instructions. She said she had her way of putting the pieces together.  One thing she did as a short cut was to forgo facings and linings. She rolled the seams at the armhole and collars. She made simple hems she could sew on the sewing machine. She had four daughters and made lots of clothes for them. One special time for sewing was those hours between when Dad left for work at 5 a.m. and we got up at 7. She hid the clothes away if they were to be gifts for birthdays or Christmas. She also made doll clothes for Barbies, baby dolls, and trolls, though the clot...